Lower Merion residents give township high marks in survey – Mainline Media News

LOWER MERION – Lower Merion residents seem to have a high regard for living in the township.

According to details of a recently released survey, 93 percent of Lower Merion residents rated the township as excellent or a good place to live.

According to a summary of the survey, Lower Merion residents gave favorable ratings to safety, the economy, quality of life, parks and recreation, and health and wellness.

The survey was conducted in May and June when the township contracted with National Research Center to perform The National Citizen Survey.

Nearly 1,500 Lower Merion residents completed the survey.

The survey was initially sent out to 4,800 random houses in the township and distributed evenly throughout Lower Merion’s 14 wards.

In a press release, township officials said the 16 percent response rate is considered a good return rate for the initial batch of questionnaires that were sent out.

In June, the survey was opened to all residents for two weeks, and another 735 residents completed it.

“The NCS Survey is a helpful tool to evaluate how well Township Services are performing and serving the residents of Lower Merion Township. Like the 2016 NCS survey, the results show that Lower Merion a great place to live. Our residents rated the services provided by the township very highly—in many cases higher than the average ratings of other communities across the country who have conducted the NCS,” said Lower Merion Township Manager Ernie McNeely. “But even with the high ratings, we will continually look for ways to improve service to our residents, which is really the underlying purpose for performing the survey.”

Township residents also gave higher ratings for many other services, such as police, fire, library, and public information services.

The only area where ratings were lower than the average for Lower Merion was the ease of bicycle travel. These survey results were similar to the 2016 numbers and an area the township has already committed to improving.

Residents with questions about the survey or its results may contact the township’s public information office by phone at 610-645-6199 or at ljennings@lowermerion.org.