Community Image Surveys

How the Survey Works

The Community Image Survey is often administered at a public meeting or workshop organized to discuss some aspect of the land use and transportation planning process. Survey participants are given a few seconds to rate each of the slides on a scale of -10 to +10 (with 0 being ‘neutral’) depending upon how much they like or dislike the image. They are assured ahead of time that there is no right or wrong answer. The quick pace of the survey seeks to gauge their initial, ‘gut’ reaction to the images that are presented.

The survey is typically administered at the start of the workshop so that, while other activities take place, the facilitator can enter the results into a spreadsheet to determine the median score for each image. Several hours later (or at a follow-up event), the images can be shown again as pairs and with the median scores recorded for each image. Participants are asked to discuss what they liked or disliked about each image. The discussion that takes place not only provides useful input to policymakers but also helps residents better understand what they like and why they like it.

How the Survey Helps Create A More Livable Community

Menu