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Building One Community
Public Opinion Survey Summary
In Spring 2003, Metropolitan Affairs Coalition hired Marketing Resources Group, Inc. (MRG) to conduct research relative to the Building One Community initiative – an effort designed to further regional cooperation. The research was commissioned to obtain a better understanding of:
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Residents’ awareness and perception of regional cooperation;
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Their willingness to support regional cooperation to address issues and challenges;
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The reasons residents might support or oppose regional cooperative efforts.
The research employed a telephone survey of 1,600 twelve-to fourteen-minute interviews using a random sample with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5%. Residents of the City of Detroit and Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne Counties were surveyed. Responses broken down by city/county have a margin of error of plus or minus five percent (5%). The random sample has a ninety-five percent (95%) degree of confidence.
Survey Findings
For the purposes of this research, “regional cooperation” was defined as Detroit metropolitan area communities, businesses, and citizens working together to enhance public services, attract high-paying jobs and industry, and improve quality of life for residents throughout the region. Under that definition, the survey revealed the following:
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Support for regional cooperation is strong across the entire region, reaching its highest support among younger and middle-age people, and individuals with higher incomes. Supporting regional cooperation were 89% of Detroit respondents, 83% of outer Wayne County respondents, 83% of Oakland County respondents, and 82% of Macomb County respondents.
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Even after possible negative consequences are posed, such as losing local control or increasing taxes, a clear majority of respondents supported regional cooperation. 61% said that regional cooperation should be encouraged even when those possibilities were raised.
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Sharing tax revenue at a regional level does diminish support for regional cooperation, though not as much as might be expected. 59% of the tri-county residents support regional cooperation, even if it means using their taxes on a regional basis.
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Even taking into consideration the possibility that their taxes may be raised, 50% of respondents still indicated that they support Detroit metro area communities working together.
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The most significant obstacle to cooperating regionally appears to be residents’ perception that regional cooperation will fail because communities will be reluctant to relinquish local control. 61% of the respondents said they are not optimistic about regional cooperation because they believe communities are afraid to lose control over issues that are most important to them.
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Race was not viewed as an insurmountable impediment to regional cooperation. In fact, 62% felt that we could overcome our racial divisions and use our diversity to work together for the good of the region.
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Most believe that the quality of life within the City of Detroit affects the entire region. Only 17% of respondents said that the quality of life in Detroit has no effect on the suburbs.
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On whole, relatively few people outside Detroit viewed themselves as part of Detroit or connected with the City. When traveling outside the state, suburbanites were more likely to say they were from Michigan or their particular municipality rather than Detroit or the Detroit area.
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In terms of visiting Detroit, young men are most likely to travel to Detroit, primarily to attend a sporting event or go to clubs and bars. Older men are less likely to travel to destinations within Detroit while very few middle-aged or older suburban women go into Detroit on a regular basis.
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People are most interested in regional cooperation to:
- Create environmental policies that benefit everyone (89%);
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Improve public safety like police, fire and rescue services, as well as anti-terrorism efforts (89%); and,
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Enhance the area’s image, increase tourism, and attract world-class events like the Super Bowl (86%).
To view the complete telephone survey results, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader.
© 2011 Metropolitan Affairs Coalition (MAC)
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