MARBLEHEAD — While the results of a 2020 municipal survey showed that Marblehead residents were largely satisfied with their quality of life, respondents also showed dissatisfaction with the maintenance of infrastructure, particularly roads and sidewalks.
As part of the town’s ongoing efforts to identify ways to engage the community, nearly 1,300 participants of varying ages completed the 16-question online survey that asked them to provide feedback regarding their experience living in Marblehead.
Of those surveyed, 86.4 percent reported they would rate Marblehead as a great place to live, and an overwhelming 92.7 percent said they would recommend the town to others as a place to live.
When asked to rate Marblehead’s overall quality of life, 57.8 percent of participants gave the town an “excellent” rating, while 38.5 percent said they would rate it as “good,” and 3.5 percent said they would rate it as “fair.”
Less than 1 percent percent — one person — gave the town a “poor” rating.
However, residents made it clear that they believed the town could improve its infrastructure maintenance, particularly for roads and sidewalks, with 38.5 percent of those surveyed reporting municipal upkeep as the single biggest issue in Marblehead.
“(The town) has horrid roads,” said Marblehead resident Jennifer Martelli. “Sidewalks are worse — cracked or non-existent.”
The dissatisfaction with roadway maintenance was apparent again later in the survey, when 72.5 percent of residents reported that they were either only “somewhat satisfied” or “not satisfied” with the maintenance of streets and sidewalks. Thirty-five percent were “not satisfied.”
Respondents reported that they were largely satisfied with all the other services provided, with a majority of those surveyed expressing that they were either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the other public services.
Residents were also polled on the respective importance of various town services, with fire protection and emergency medical response considered to be the most important. Nearly 98 percent of the town considered these services to be either “very important” or “important.”
Only two residents reported that fire protection and emergency medical response were “not important at all.”
The 13 other public services, which include police, street maintenance, public schools, recreational programming and senior services were all considered “important” or “very important” by a majority of residents surveyed.
Street maintenance was close behind fire protection and emergency medical services, and was considered as “very important” or “important” by 95 percent of residents.
When it came to opinions on its government, Marblehead also fared well, with 66.3 percent of participants reporting feeling either “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with the local government, 21.2 percent reporting feeling “neither satisfied nor dissatisfied,” and 12.4 percent reporting feeling “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied.”
As a whole, however, residents still reported high levels of satisfaction when it came to local officials and aids, with nearly three quarters, or 74.6 percent, reporting feeling either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their most recent interactions with town officials.
Residents also reported a high level of interaction with town employees, with 75.7 residents saying that they had been in contact with a town employee over the past 12 months. According to the survey, 74.6 percent of residents were either “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with these interactions.
The survey also showed Marblehead, based on the group that was surveyed, to be an older town made up of long-time residents.
A total of 57.9 percent of respondents were over the age of 51, while only 15.6 percent were under the age of 30. More than 37 percent of respondents had lived in the town for more than 30 years.
According to Town Hall, the survey’s results will be used as a tool to help shape future decisions and will serve as an evaluation tool enabling the town to receive direct feedback on what it’s doing well and where there are opportunities for improvement.
