What's so great about Washington County? According to a 2008 Residential Survey of county residents recently conducted by the National Research Center, Inc. — plenty.
Life
A full 94 percent of county residents feel that the quality of life in Washington County is good to excellent — ranking Washington County No. 1 in the nation compared to the other U.S. counties surveyed by the National Research Center. At the top of the list of what Washington County residents like most:
• the county's location (17%)
• its rural feel (16%)
• the amount of parks and lakes (8%)
• its open space (7%)
• its safety (7%)
Safety
As a whole, Washington County residents feel safe here. Nine in 10 respondents said they feel very or somewhat safe from violent crimes (93 percent), property crimes (87 percent), and nuisance crimes (87 percent). Slightly fewer residents feel safe from drunk drivers when traveling within the county, with 81 percent saying they feel somewhat to very safe.
Taxes
When it comes to taxes, 77 percent of Washington County residents feel they receive good value for the taxes they pay—above the national norm—and that same percentage believe the county does a good job of managing their tax dollars.
County Services
Washington County residents also feel good to excellent about their county government, giving high ratings to most of the services provided—including county parks and recreation (93 percent), county libraries (92 percent), the county trail and bikeway system (88 percent), and County Sheriff services (87%)—as well as to the county staff members who provide those services.
Ninety-two percent of county residents said they found county staff members to be courteous, 88 percent found them to be knowledgeable, and 85 percent found them to be responsive to their needs—placing Washington County staff No. 1 in the nation in all three categories among the U.S. counties surveyed.
In fact, all Washington County services rated above the national norm, and several services ranked No. 1 nationally, including the county’s libraries, parks/recreation, and its trail/bikeway system.
Concerns
Growth and development were cited as the most serious issues facing the county, with 63 percent of respondents reporting that the growth of housing developments is too fast and 55 percent saying population growth is too fast.
This Residential Survey was administered by telephone to a random sample of 503 households throughout Washington County. Approximately 100 surveys were completed in each of the five county commissioner districts.
