Customer satisfaction surveys are tricky. They’re especially tricky when a city of 1.3 million people asks its residents how satisfied they are with how their tax dollars are being spent, as Dallas does every two years. The 2023 edition was shown to the City Council on Wednesday, just as city staffers map out a multi-billion dollar bond program next year.
The city will have to navigate some of what appears to be contradictory: 62 percent of the 1,475 respondents say the city is an “excellent” or “good” place to live, but only 28 percent say they are “pleased with the overall direction that the city of Dallas is taking.” (About 53 percent responded in the affirmative in 2014.)
Overall, residents reported that they thought city services were either “excellent” or “good” for about two-thirds of the city’s categories. But only 29 percent agreed that they “receive good value for the city of Dallas taxes I pay.” (About 44 percent responded in the affirmative in 2014.)
Dallas fares well when compared to the other major cities that also asked the ETC Institute to conduct a survey. (The ETC keeps its findings in a handy database for everyone it does business with.)
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The Council was presented with a 27 page report that showed a fairly positive view of the city, but the full, 180-page report with more of the nuance is here.
Each of the 14 Council districts clocked 100 or more respondents. (Most districts averaged about 7 percent of the total response, while White Rock Lake and East Dallas in District 9, represented by Paula Blackmon, was the outlier with 8.3 percent.)
Overall, 66 percent of Dallasites rated their neighborhood as an excellent or good place to live, and 62 percent said Dallas was an excellent or good place to live. (Only 7 percent reported it as “poor.”)
Some of the key takeaways:
About three-quarters of the respondents said that Dallas is an excellent or good place to do business, and a good or excellent place to work, but that number jumps up when you include the 20 percent that rated the city as “fair.” About half said the economic development efforts in the city were good or excellent, but only 35 percent felt it was a good place to retire.
When it comes to overall quality of life, a little more than half felt the city was doing a good or excellent job, and only 40 percent felt that Dallas was doing good or excellent work in terms of equity.
When you account for excellent, good, and fair responses, the quality of public schools rated 61 percent.
In terms of city services, people really, really love Love Field. Almost 100 percent of those surveyed felt the airport was excellent or good.
About 90 percent rated the city’s fire department favorably. That’s also true when it comes to the city’s public library services and arts and cultural programs. In fact, all of those services had better ratings than those in other large U.S. cities ETC compared the city to, by as much as five to 10 percent.
People are generally pleased with their sewer services, parks, drinking water, and trash pickup. They are slightly less pleased with their storm drainage, customer service from city employees, 311 request process, and animal services. Seventy percent felt neighborhood code enforcement was excellent, fair, or poor.
Only 38 percent of those surveyed rated the service from the Dallas Police Department as excellent or good. Another 30 percent said it was fair. That was also lower than other major U.S. cities, and lower than other survey years—in 2018, 62 percent rated the police department as excellent or good, and in 2020 almost half rated it so. This month, the Dallas police rolled out a plan that will task residents with reporting some incidents—like car wrecks, vandalism, identity theft, and debit or credit card abuse—through an online portal. The city says that could free up the equivalent of 65 patrol officers to respond to more urgent incidents.
Respondents were also not huge fans of the city’s land use, planning, and zoning, or how Dallas maintains its infrastructure.
Almost 60 percent of those surveyed placed maintaining city infrastructure as a top priority. Half said police services should be a priority, and 31 percent said social services should.
When asked about how to prioritize things that impact communities, 53 percent said access to affordable, quality housing was a top priority, with 33 percent and 27 percent saying the city should also focus on access to living wage jobs and quality education, respectively.
In nearly every council district, residents prioritized infrastructure as their top priority. (Districts 5 and 10 prioritized police services, which was number two for the other districts.)
City of Dallas
But when you look at the trends for key survey questions, things aren’t quite as rosy. Respondents were asked their level of agreement with several statements around City Hall’s performance, and each of the six had declined in the past two years. Those include the aforementioned questions regarding taxes and the direction of the city.
Only 29 percent felt that the city government “listens to a diverse range of people,” compared to 35 percent in 2020. When it comes to feeling that they get a “good value for the city of Dallas taxes” they pay, only 24 percent felt so this year, compared to 31 percent in 2020 and 45 percent in 2016.
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City of Dallas
Looking at those results, a couple things jump out. First, look at the satisfaction scores for Dallas police, where its ability to reduce the city’s violent crime over the past year has been lauded by Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson as recently as Tuesday’s inaugural address.
Dallasites may feel that the quality of life issues that come with crime reduction are also important, like getting a response when someone breaks the lock on your back fence and steals your lawn equipment. The plan to direct those complaints to an online portal could feel like a reduction in services to some residents. Meantime, the same decision could offer the police more flexibility behind the scenes in how it deploys its limited resources.
The city faces difficult choices, particularly around perception.
Secondly, it’s not clear which infrastructure elements respondents were reacting to. But it’s common to hear about the condition of city streets. In Wednesday’s City Council briefing, the city’s Office of Bond and Construction Management provided an update on proposed allocations for the potential 2024 bond election. Streets could see about $400 million in bond funding, while housing infrastructure could see around $80 million. Flood protection, storm drainage, and erosion control could get another $50 million piece of the $1 billion pie. “Access to affordable, quality housing” was by far the highest ranked priority of quality of life investments. (Living-wage jobs and quality education trailed behind, two things the city must work alongside partners to affect.)
City of Dallas
This survey isn’t the only peek into what residents want to see from their city. The city’s Office of Bond and Construction Management as well as the Community Bond Task Force have held town hall meetings, virtual meetings, and attended community-requested meetings. The city is also collecting public opinion in an ongoing survey.
Throughout the summer and fall, the Council will continue to be briefed on the proposed bond package as city staff works on its list of recommended projects. The Council could hold a public hearing in December or January, and must decide if it will call a May bond election by Jan. 24, 2024. It will be its first bond program since 2017.
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Bethany Erickson
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Bethany Erickson is the senior digital editor for D Magazine. She’s written about real estate, education policy, the stock market, and crime throughout her career, and sometimes all at the same time. She hates lima beans and 5 a.m. and takes SAT practice tests for fun.
Champ Bailey on former teammate Deion Sanders potentially becoming the HC in Dallas
Champ Bailey discusses the possibility of Deion Sanders becoming the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
Sports Seriously
The stars shine bright in Dallas.
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More often than not, it’s also how the Dallas Cowboys conduct business — the franchise searches far and wide for the biggest names in the NFL. America’s Team would have it no other way … especially in a coaching search.
After their parting of ways with Mike McCarthy, it comes as no surprise that everyone is trying to keep up with what Jerry Jones’ team will do. There’s the potential big splash (see: Colorado head coach Deion Sanders). There’s the homegrown talent, like Kellen Moore. There’s the outside-the-box pick, like Jason Witten. There’s the more conventional route, like Robert Saleh and Leslie Frazier.
The list will almost certainly grow over time as the team looks to steal headlines and, eventually, win games with their next hire. Anything goes deep in the heart of Texas, which makes for an exciting coaching search to follow.
Here’s the latest on the Cowboys’ search for a new head coach.
COWBOYS COACHING CANDIDATES: Deion Sanders among Mike McCarthy replacement options
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Cowboys head coach search rumors, news, updates
This section will be updated as interviews occur and relevant news about potential candidates becomes available.
Kellen Moore a top candidate for Cowboys’ HC
On Thursday, the Cowboys officially requested to interview Moore, the current Eagles’ offensive coordinator. He formerly held the same title in Dallas before the sides mutually agreed to part ways following the 2022 season. In the four seasons that Moore coached the offense, it finished in the top-10 three times.
Moore, undrafted out of Boise State, played for the Cowboys from 2015 to 2017 before transitioning into the team’s quarterbacks coach in 2018. He was then given the OC responsibilities from 2019 to 2022 and was a holdover from Jason Garrett’s staff to McCarthy’s.
Rapoport said Moore is considered a “top candidate” for the job and that his familiarity with the organization makes this potential partnership one to keep an eye on.
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MORE: Troy Aikman rips Cowboys for parting with Mike McCarthy: ‘Not a real plan’
Deion Sanders would ‘almost certainly’ accept Cowboys’ job if offered
Sanders was initially believed to be a long shot, but the noise is getting too loud to ignore. Jones is reportedly enamored with the idea, according to Werder, meaning the rumors will continue to swirl until the search is over. NFL Network’s Jane Slater reported Thursday that Sanders approached Colorado’s athletic director, Rick George, on Tuesday about additional money for NIL and his staff, but was met with resistance. Sanders, who played for the Cowboys, previously said he had no interest in coaching in the NFL. That seems to have changed in recent weeks.
Robert Saleh to interview this week
Saleh, the former Jets coach, is set to interview for the Cowboys’ job this week. The former 49ers’ defensive coordinator seems likely to land a job for 2025, whether that is as a coordinator or head coach.
Cowboys request interview with Seahawks’ Leslie Frazier
Frazier is also slated to interview for the Dallas gig. He comes with plenty of experience, serving previously as the head coach in Minnesota and more recently as the Buffalo defensive coordinator before spending last season in Seattle.
Jason Witten was seen as potential heir apparent to Mike McCarthy
Witten was reportedly floated as a potential heir apparent in negotiations with McCarthy, who opted to pursue other opportunities, according to Slater. Jones thinks very highly of Witten, but it’s unclear whether he will be a head coaching candidate. The former Cowboys’ tight end doesn’t have any NFL or college coaching experience, but has been the head coach at Liberty Christian in Argyle, Texas, since 2021.
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Cowboys coaching candidates
Here is a look at who the Cowboys have interest in or requested to interview thus far:
Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders “would almost certainly accept” an offer from Jerry Jones to become the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, according to veteran NFL reporter Ed Werder.
And not only is Coach Prime apparently interested, but people around the coach are encouraging him to take the position and that Jones is also “enamored” of the idea, Werder added.
Sanders appeared to emerge as a candidate to become the Cowboys’ next head coach after it was revealed he and Jones spoke about the position in a recent phone call.
That call became public shortly after the Cowboys and former head coach Mike McCarthy agreed to part ways, and Fox Sports reported that there was mutual interest between Prime and America’s Team.
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For his part, Sanders did confirm the phone call took place and that he was intrigued by the conversation he had with Jones and at the idea of leading the Cowboys franchise.
“To hear from Jerry Jones is truly delightful and it’s intriguing,” Sanders said to ESPN.
“I love Jerry and I believe in Jerry. After you hang up and process it and think about it, it’s intriguing. But I love Boulder and everything there is about our team, the coaches, our student body, and the community.”
Amid all the speculation and rumors, there’s still nothing set in place between the two.
Despite all the talk, the Cowboys and Sanders have not scheduled an official in-person interview about the position, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
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But “the conversations will continue,” Schefter noted on ESPN.
“Deion said to me he’s intrigued with the job, and clearly, Jerry Jones is intrigued, too. Those two men know each other so well. They don’t have to have a lot of conversations,” Schefter said.
While everyone is busy intrigued by the idea, the Cowboys have been setting up formal interviews with other candidates not named Deion Sanders to replace McCarthy.
Still, the prospect of Prime returning to Dallas is too interesting to not entertain.
Especially considering a cryptic message Schefter says he received from a high-level NFL exec.
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“I can’t help but think of, about 16, 17 months ago, I had an NFL general manager call me up and said, ‘I want you to write this down right now: the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys is going to be Deion Sanders. Take it to the bank because of the respect that exists between Deion Sanders and Jerry Jones and vice versa,’” Schefter said.
Sanders has stated repeatedly that he intends to stay with the Colorado program and help build it back into a national contender.
So far, that project has gone well after he improved from his 4-8 debut in 2023 to a 9-4 effort in 2024 that saw the Buffaloes briefly in the Big 12 title picture late in the season.
Key to that effort was the play of eventual Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, the two-way player at defensive back and wide receiver.
Sanders’ own sons were also prominent in that improvement: his son, Shedeur, quarterbacked the team to one of the nation’s most productive offenses.
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And another son, defensive back Shilo, was also an important piece of that puzzle.
But now all three of those players are getting ready to leave Colorado and enter the NFL Draft, where they’ll all be highly-coveted prospects for teams to choose from.
And while Sanders said that he intends to stay at Colorado, he did also leave a hint that there’s one exception he would take into consideration.
“The only way I would consider, is to coach my sons,” he told Good Morning America. “Not son. Sons.”
The apparent interest between Sanders and Jones could suggest there’s another exception the coach would consider, but until anything happens, it’s all just talk.
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(Werder)
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