Leisure Vision Survey 2008 : About : Arlington, Virginia

Residents

Visitors

Businesses

County Government

Online Services

Información en Español

Department of Parks and Recreation

Leisure Vision Survey 2008

How are we doing? How can we improve?

Arlington County’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources is committed to obtaining sound data to develop action strategies, performance measurements, service standards and other important planning and management tools in an effort to achieve it’s mission and realize its Strategic Plan.

In March 2008, ETC Institute conducted a comprehensive Need/Interest Opinion Survey for Arlington County’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources to determine community needs and preferences in regards to parks, recreation, sports and cultural programs, and the facilities that support them. The survey included questions on a full range of usage, customer satisfaction, needs both met and unmet, and priorities. Arlington County’s data was referenced to data ETC Institute has collected on parks and recreation in more than 200 communities in over 35 states across the county. Results indicate that in many areas, Arlington County has raised the bar nationally for parks and recreation.

Summary of Key Findings

Arlington County parks and recreation facilities are used more frequently than in most localities. Residents report high levels of satisfaction in Arlington’s facilities.
Arlington County residents are interested in a wide range of parks, recreation and cultural facilities and programs. Residents are more likely to participate in County programs than is typical in other communities and they are more likely to rate County programs as good to excellent as residents in other communities rate their local programs. Yet unmet needs in regards to parks, recreation and cultural facilities and programs still exist in Arlington.
Walking and biking trails and neighborhood parks are viewed by Arlingtonians as the County’s most important outdoor park facilities. Indoor pools and community centers are viewed as the most important indoor park facilities.
Adult fitness and wellness programs and special events are viewed as the most important department programs. The Arlington community has greater interest in these types of programs than the national average. Improving health and fitness are the major personal benefits reported for using County recreation programs and facilities.
Just like elsewhere in the US, the major barriers to using County recreation programs and facilities are that people report they are “too busy,” “program times are not convenient” and people “do not know what is offered.” Fewer people in Arlington report that fees or ADA accessibility is a barrier to participating in park and recreation programs than elsewhere in the US.
Preserving open space and the environment and making Arlington a more enjoyable place to live are the major long-term benefits to the community garnered from the County’s parks, recreation and cultural efforts.
A significantly higher than average number of Arlingtonians report using the web to learn about programs than in the rest of the US.

Arlington sets the bar nationwide!

Larger Image

Facility utilization is very high…Parks, recreation and cultural facilities have been visited by 82% of Arlington residents in the last year. (Q2) This is an increase from 75% in 2002, and 10% higher than the national benchmark.

Overall satisfaction of the physical condition of County facilities beats the national benchmark…While 91% of those who visited PRCR facilities rated their condition as excellent or good (85% in 2002) compared to a national benchmark of 84%, fewer are rating the condition of our facilities as excellent. In 2008, 26% gave excellent ratings to our facilities while in 2002 and currently nationally, 30% rate their park and recreation facilities as excellent. (Q2)

Arlington County programs are used by a higher percent of the community than in other localities…38% of respondent households say they participated in programs offered by PRCR in the last 12 months (compared to the national average of 30%). (Q3) Yet this number is lower than in 2002 when 44% participated in PRCR programs.

Arlingtonians think County programs are first-rate…93% rate PRCR programs as excellent or good (up from 90% in 2002). (Q3) This beats the national benchmark of 87%The excellent rating alone held steady at 37% in 2008 and 2002 and beat the national benchmark of 33%.

Larger Image

More Arlingtonians use the web for parks, recreation and cultural information than anywhere else in the nation…40% of respondents use the web to learn about programs as opposed to the national benchmark of 13%.(Q4) That’s a big jump: in 2002 just 14% used the web to get information. The other two major information sources are The Citizen and the class catalog, now called Enjoy Arlington!

Youths and their families or seniors are the most likely to use County programs…65% of Arlington’s households with kids under 10 use PRCR programs and 54% with children 10 to 19. The next biggest user-group is those over 65 (32%). Those least likely to participate in park and recreation programs are adults 20 to 44 (23%).

Data to develop strategies for success

Larger Image

Special events and festivals are highly regarded and important programs to the community…56% of the Arlingtonians surveyed said they had a need for special events/festivals, with almost a quarter reporting special events are one of the top four programs they participate in. Close to 21,000 residents felt their needs in this area were met less than 50% of the time. (Q11c) When translated into actual numbers, this represents the second greatest unmet need.

Improving physical health and fitness is viewed as the most important personal benefit from parks and recreation for households…Health and fitness was selected by 59% as a top benefit of parks, recreation and cultural programs. (Q7) Over 40% said it was the single-most important benefit, followed by creative and healthy opportunities, preserving open space and the environment, and making Arlington a great place to live.

Adult fitness and wellness are highly needed and highly regarded…Most Arlingtonians report they need adult fitness and wellness programs. In fact, adult fitness and wellness programs had the highest percentage of respondents selecting it as the most important recreation activity for their household. (Q12) However, close to 25,000 households indicated their need for fitness and wellness programs was met less than 50% of the time. (Q11c) When translated into actual number of Arlington households, this represents the greatest unmet recreation need in the community.

Larger Image

Close to 60% of the population do not feel their need for indoor pools are being currently met…Yet indoor pools remain the most important indoor recreation facility in the County. (Q19) Fifty-two percent indicated that their fitness and exercise needs were not being met either. (Q11b) Indoor pools were the most frequently chosen indoor facilities to improve, selected by 30% of all respondent households as one of the four most important. (Q19) Pools also had the lowest overall rating of condition (42% of respondents rated our indoor pools as fair or poor). (Q18)

Preserving open space and the environment and making Arlington a more desirable place to live are the top two most important benefits from County park and recreation programs that affect Arlington’s future…More than half of all respondent households chose preserving open space and the environment as one of the three most important benefits of parks, recreation and cultural programs and facilities and 50% put making Arlington a more desirable place to live in the top three. (Q8)

Larger Image

Walking and biking trails and neighborhood parks are the two most needed and most important outdoor facilities…Close to 90% of Arlingtonians say they have a need for walking and biking trails and 81% for neighborhood parks. (Q10) This is significantly higher than the national benchmarks of 68% and 60%. These facilities were rated as one of their top four most important facilities by 57% and 37%, respectively (this is higher than the national benchmarks of 41% and 29%). While 77% of respondents felt that their needs for trails were mostly being met and 74% felt their needs for neighborhood parks were mostly being met, these facilities were also the top two choices for outdoor facilities to improve – 45% (trails) and 42% (neighborhood parks). (Q15)

Arlingtonians main barriers to participation and facility usage are similar to nationwide trends…44% say they are too busy to use PRCR programs and facilities. This is not only higher than the national average of 35%, but also significantly higher than reported by residents in 2002 (26%). The next most common reasons people say they don’t utilize what’s available from County recreation programs is that times are not convenient (18% in Arlington, national average is 14%; 2002 NA) or they don’t know what is offered (18% in Arlington, 22% nationally, and 19% in 2002). (Q5)

Fees are less of a barrier to participation in Arlington than nationally, but cited by more respondents than in 2002…While nationwide 11% report that fees area barrier to using parks, recreation and cultural resources, 9% of our respondents cited fees and prices as being too high (this was the seventh frequently cited reason). In 2002 only 4% felt fees were a barrier in Arlington. While about 30% of Arlington County residents speak a language other than English at home, only 1% of the population thought that language was a barrier to participating in park and recreation programs. (Q5)