While Oak Parkers value and appreciate what the Park District of Oak Park offers, there is still room for improvement.
That was the major takeaway from a community survey conducted earlier this year by Evanston-based Aqity Research. The park district does these kinds of surveys once every five years, and uses the results for both short-term and long-term planning.Â
In his Aug. 22 presentation to the park district’s board of commissioners, Jeff Andreasen, president of Aqity, said that out of all the Oak Park municipal entities, only Oak Park Public Library district has a better reputation than the park district, and that it did better than most other park districts not just in the Chicago area, but in the state.Â
But even with that in mind, there are several things residents are looking for — most notably, an indoor pool, an indoor running track and a fitness center.Â
And there was room to improve programming for college-age kids, according to respondents who felt that the park district doesn’t have anything to offer them.
Andreasen said the survey results were based on responses from 618 residents, which represents about 1.1 percent of Oak Park’s population. While they were able to get results from all parts of the village, the park district had trouble getting responses from renters.Â
Overall, Andreasen said, the respondents rated park district at 8.2 out of 10, higher than most other taxing bodies.
The complaints tended to do with limited parking and not enough maintenance. Residents complained about flooding in Barrie Park and argued that Rehm Pool needed a longer season.
The survey also revealed some other areas the park district could improve on. When residents who indicated they didn’t use any parks and facilities were asked why that was the case, most of them indicated that it was because they didn’t have children.Â
Andreasen said there is an opportunity for the park district to expand programming for older adults.
“Fifteen years ago, it was seniors who felt they were underserved by park agencies,” he said. “Nowadays, and I think it’s case here in Oak Park, you find seniors that feel they’re well-serviced, but now it’s that middle-age groups, the empty nesters, feel they aren’t served by the park district.”
In addition, lower-income residents are less likely they are to know about the park district scholarship program that is there to benefit them.
When asked what kind of features they would want to see, 23 percent of residents indicated they didn’t want anything. Among the rest, the fitness center got the most support, followed by the indoor pool and the indoor track. Â
When asked whether they would be interested in a rec center that would include all of those features, 80 percent agreed, with 41 percent agreeing strongly. When asked if knowing that this facility would also provide after school programming for teens would affect how they responded to that question, the number of residents who supported it strongly went up to 52 percent.
Those who supported the rec center also indicated that they felt it would provide a more affordable fitness center option and would improve the quality of life in Oak Park. Among those who opposed it, 61 percent felt that there were already enough fitness options in the area, while 24 percent felt that park district should spend the money elsewhere. Thirty-four percent were concerned that it would cause taxes and fees to go up.
When asked whether they might donate money to help building the rec center, 61 percent said they were “likely” to donate, but only 21 percent said they were “very likely” to donate.
When asked how the results compared to the last survey, Andreasen said it was hard to make apples-to-apples comparison because different surveys ask different questions.
Park board President Sandy Lentz said that this kind of feedback is an important part of the park district’s planning process.
“I think people are satisfied when they’re heard and understood,” she said. “That helps the community to feel that we’re responsive.”
