ETC Institute presented the City Council with Tempe’s 2025 community and business survey results, reporting generally strong performance across city services while identifying streets and homelessness services as the highest priorities for improvement. The consultant said the resident survey included just over 1,000 responses (±3% at the 95% confidence level) and the business survey had 449 respondents.

Chris Tatham of ETC Institute told the council Tempe “performs very well across the board,” noting overall quality of services and customer service scored roughly 30% or more above national and midsize averages. He highlighted high ratings for residential trash collection, recreation centers, libraries and emergency services, and said 71% of residents reported feeling safe overall — higher than national and midsize averages.

At the same time, Tatham said trends show some declines concentrated in customer service and availability of information, mirroring national patterns, while areas that improved included code enforcement, appearance, and perceptions of safety at night. He flagged the “importance‑satisfaction” analysis that placed condition of streets at the top of the list of items where targeted investment would likely raise overall satisfaction.

On the business side, the firm found 90% of local business respondents view Tempe as business‑friendly (a 7% increase from the prior business survey) and reported improvements in communications with businesses, workforce perceptions, and safety perceptions during the day and at night. Tatham recommended continued attention to traffic management, police safety, economic development and street maintenance to sustain and improve satisfaction.

Waddell Holmes, Tempe’s Strategic Management and Innovation director, outlined next steps: staff will forward contact information from 249 businesses that requested follow‑up to relevant departments, consider targeted mini‑polls or focus groups on traffic safety, provide dashboard training for departments, and issue a minor revision to the findings packet before finalizing materials.

No formal council action was taken at the work study session; the presentation concluded with council thanks and a commitment from staff to follow up on the recommended next steps.