They’re In!
The 2019 Desert Ridge Community Survey Results
Your voice matters to the Desert Ridge Community Association, so this past summer we sent out a survey to get your feedback on how satisfied you are living in Desert Ridge and, most importantly, what we could be doing to make life here even better for our residents. And you responded! We were thrilled with the number of you who took the time to answer the questions we posed. Your answers were very insightful, and we promised to share the results with the community. Below is what you had to say.
How would you rate your overall experience living in Desert Ridge?
The great news is that you gave Desert Ridge an overall approval rating of 4.1 out of 5! With a community this large, that’s a very good number. But yes, there’s still some room for improvement. So, we asked for specifics and here’s what you shared with us.
What do you like most about living in Desert Ridge?
By an overwhelming majority, 81.6% of you felt that the location was the best thing about living in Desert Ridge. Not only are we centrally located and close to so much in the Valley, but there’s an abundance that Desert Ridge offers without having to go outside the community. You cited the Marketplace and convenient retail areas, schools, parks, trails, golf, entertainment, and other social amenities that contribute to making this a desirable community. The majority of respondents felt that the community was consistently well cared for and a safe place to live, which makes for stability in housing values.
What’s the one thing you would like to see changed or improved?
There were a few issues that definitely stood out. Safety is still a major concern and 27% of you felt that crime monitoring and enforcement could be improved. Next on your list of concerns was compliance, with 25.4% who would like to see a greater and more consistent enforcement of the community rules and guidelines. Overnight, on-street parking was, by far, the most-often mentioned violation you felt should be addressed. Another big issue was common area landscape maintenance and 21.6% would like to see an improvement in the frequency and quality of the maintenance of the common areas. Other areas that you felt could be improved upon were more events, more communication, and architectural approvals.
Since one of the association’s primary objectives involves maintenance of the common areas throughout the community that are maintained by the master association, we asked specifically about this topic with a separate question.
How would you rate the maintenance of the common areas on a scale of 1 to 5?
We were pleased to receive an approval rating of 3.78 out of 5 on your satisfaction with the maintenance. But clearly, there is room for improvement, and you shared your thoughts on how we could do better in this area. Improved landscaping and tree trimming were common themes with more frequency of the landscape maintenance cycle suggested as one of the possible solutions. Along with the frequency of maintenance, many also suggested better clean-up after landscaping and addressing overgrown areas.
In addition to maintenance, there were a few other issues mentioned that are definitely being looked at by management. Many of you would like to see the guidelines enforced consistently, especially in some of the aging residential neighborhoods of Desert Ridge. Most felt that the management team was doing a great job, but some mentioned there could still be more communication and responsiveness to residents.
With communication being an important area of interest to the management team, we wanted to know how we were doing in that area.
What you would like to see added or changed in the Desert Ridge Lifestyles magazine and the website?
We were delighted that 53.3% of you enjoyed the magazine and wouldn’t change anything, and 35.5% thought the website was good as is. There were many great suggestions, though, on what you’d like to see. Desert Ridge development news, resident-owned businesses, events, articles highlighting the community, and coupons were just a few of the multitude of ideas you mentioned. Look for many of them to be implemented in future issues of the magazine and here on the community website.
Finally, we wanted to obtain your feedback regarding the master association’s current assessments, which are $31 per month (paid semi-annually at $186).
Do you think the $31 monthly assessment (paid semi-annually at $186) is too much, too little, or about right for the overall services provided by your master association?
Since these assessments are used to cover such services as landscape maintenance, administration, community patrols, lifestyle events, along with many other things, it was gratifying to learn that 75% of you felt that amount was about right for the current services being provided by the association.
Your participation in the survey was outstanding and for that we say “Thank You” to everyone in the community who took a few minutes to share your thoughts and ideas! Your voice is what helps make Desert Ridge the best place to live, work, visit, and play!
