2005 Follow-Up Surveys
Document Actions
The first ComNETsm surveys were conducted in the spring and summer of 2004 in four Seattle neighborhoods: Greenwood-Phinney Ridge, Capitol Hill, North Beacon Hill and the International District. There were a total of 1159 incidents recorded from these initial surveys. In May 2005, Sustainable Seattle conducted four “follow-up” surveys, in which volunteers surveyed the same routes as in the 2004 surveys, but rather than collect new conditions, this survey checked whether the original conditions still existed. If the surveyors did not find the original conditions, the incidents were recorded as “resolved.” Of the 1159 incidents recorded in 2004, 386 were found to be “resolved” by the time of the follow up survey.
Click on the map for details on the follow up survey in each of the four neighborhoods:
|
||||
|
Findings
 |
The most frequently collected incidents are listed in this bar graph. They include sidewalk, tree pit, building, planting strip and roadway conditions. The blue bar indicates the total number of conditions which were found in 2004. The burgundy bar indicates the number of resolved conditions in 2005. Of the top features only suspicious activity was 89% resolved. However, ComNETsm is not the best tool for tracking this type of conditions given that they are not stationary. Aside from Suspicious Activity, building was the feature with most resolved incidents by 2005. 45% of building incidents were found to be resolved. |
 |
Sidewalks were the most frequently collected feature across all four neighborhoods. The top ten most frequent conditions found on sidewalks are demonstrated in the bar graph to the left. The green bars show all of the conditions collected in 2004, while the yellow bars indicated those collected in 2005. Trip hazards* were by far the most frequently collected condition on the sidewalk, out of 136 trip hazards found in all four neighborhoods, only 27% were resolved. 100% of the ponding conditions were found to be resolved, however this is inconclusive because when the survey was completed in 2004 it was a rainy day and in 2005 it was not. |
Findings Resolved By Agency
Across all four neighborhoods in which follow up surveys were conducted more incidents were affiliated with SDOT (Seattle Department of Transportation) than with any other agency. 585 of the total 1159 collected incidents fell under SDOT's jurisdiction. Of these 29% were resolved in 2005. In second and third place were shared jurisdiction between the property owners and either SDOT or SPU (Seattle Public Utilities). SPU was affiliated with the fourth most frequently collected incidents. There were 90 incidents which fell under SPU's jurisdiction, out of which 66% were resolved by 2005.
SDOT is affiliated with problems on trees and tree pits, street and parking signs, roadways, parking meters and cross walks. SDOT is also affiliated with trip hazards on sidewalks. SPU is affiliated with street lights, trashcans and ponding on sidewalks. Property Owners and SDOT are jointly affiliated with damaged pavers or cracks on sidewalks, weeds on sidewalks, and vegetation obstructing sidewalks. Property owners and SPU are jointly responsible for litter on sidewalks and graffiti on dumpsters and buildings.
For an excel spreadsheet with data for all four neighborhoods click here.