A “Happiness Survey” by the City of Somerville shows residents have high levels of satisfaction with their community – an average of 4 out of 5 on its scale – despite growing concerns about housing affordability, transportation safety and the presence of rodents.
“An average of four is an average of satisfied – that’s pretty high,” said Anna Gartsman, the director of SomerStat, a team within the mayor’s office that conducts the survey. “And you can also see that that’s been consistent over time. People have been happy since we were measuring it, and they continue to be happy.”
The survey has been taken every two years for the past dozen years; 2023 results were presented Oct. 10 to the City Council.
SomerSet analysts identified five key predictors of overall satisfaction: neighborhood beauty, convenience of travel, social and community events, availability of city service information and freedom from having to worry about crime.
The MBTA green line extension into Somerville has contributed to residents’ happiness, with about 82 percent of respondents feeling either satisfied or very satisfied about it. There continues to be disagreement in the community about bus and bike lanes, with people advocating for both more and fewer of them. (The breakdown of results shows 33 percent of people satisfied with the lanes and 13 percent unsatisfied; 20 percent very satisfied and 16 percent very unsatisfied; and 18 percent neutral.)
There are areas where result are more clear. “Respondents are thrilled with social community events across all the wards – everyone’s very happy,” Gartsman said.
“An extensive hatred for rats”
Despite the overall positive sentiment, the survey highlights several areas of concern. Housing costs remain a significant issue, and 17 percent of respondents were either unsatisfied or very unsatisfied with housing costs – indicating difficulty paying. Of those same respondents, 87 percent were concerned or very concerned with being priced out of Somerville.
Street and sidewalk maintenance and rodent problems also feature prominently in residents’ concerns. Responses showed “an extensive hatred for rats,” Gartsman said. “It got violent in the comments.”
Of those responding to a question about concerns about rats and mice, 45 percent said they were “very concerned.” Another 35 percent said they were “concerned.” By comparison, only 11 percent said they were “very concerned” about crime and violence.
(“There could be so many issues that we disagree on as a city,” councillor and council vice president Judy Pineda Neufeld said, “but coming together for our extensive hatred of rats is really heartwarming.”)
Discrimination, seniors and parents
Gartsman noted that the sampling of respondents over-represents women and white people and homeowners as well as high-income households, “but almost all the demographic groups have enough respondents to analyze.” Based on the survey, black respondents and respondents with disabilities experience the most discrimination, with 32 percent of black respondents and 31 percent of respondents with disabilities saying they experience discrimination. Additionally, 20 percent of non-English-speaking respondents reported discrimination based on language ability. Only 3 percent of women who responded reported discrimination based on sex.
The survey’s findings also shed light on seniors’ perspectives. Older Somervillians expressed more satisfaction than other demographics with the quality and number of transport options and street and sidewalk maintenance. They expressed more concern about safety, whether about crossing the street or violence and crime.
Parents expressed worries about the availability of child care and out-of-school care, but they showed satisfaction with the availability of parks. The survey found that 26 percent of parents expressed dissatisfaction with Somerville Public Schools, a 12 percent increase from 2021; the survey happened during the closing of the Winter Hill Community Innovation School, which staff suggested might have influenced results.
Some voices less heard
The survey uses a random representative sample of 5,000 residents in Somerville. Staff also does targeted outreach to special populations “that provide, in general, insight of a broad cross-section of opinions that aren’t always heard in public meetings and online comments,” Gartsman said.
As Somerville prepares for its 2025 survey, SomerStat needs to ensure continuity and address emerging concerns, asking the same questions again for the purposes of historical comparison but adding issues to the survey as they become relevant, Gartsman said.
The report was accepted with gratitude by councillors.
“It can be hard to remember that we don’t necessarily hear from a random sampling of Somerville residents; the people who reach out to us often have a problem. They’re going through something tough, and they’re reaching out to us for help, and that can skew my experience of the general vibes out there,” council president Ben Ewen-Campen said. “And so this kind of statistically rigorous kind of work is actually really valuable.”
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Only when it comes to bike infrastructure is a 53% in favor to 29% opposed be framed as an even split. If that were an election anywhere in the country or really the world it would be framed as a massive blowout.
Be more responsible with your headline writing, and stop deliberately trying to fan the flames of culture war around bike infrastructure.
“Majority of Somerville residents support bike infrastructure, with a small minority opposed” would be a far more accurate representation of the data than “split on bike lanes”