Hi TulsaNowers (?). I talked to a couple of your members at the Lortondale function last night and I think you guys were wanting an update. In no particular order:
1. Yes, 20,000 paper surveys have been distributed, but we were never expecting a 100% response on those. This kind of survey, which is similar to a mailed survey, typically gets about a 2% response rate...and that's about not far off from what we have gathered on paper so far. There are more to collect.
2. Things have picked up and over 2,000 more people have responded online, and we expect lots more as we move through the week. Fregonese says that, in previous efforts, they have gathered as much as one-third of the responses in final 48 hours.
3. We're extremely happy to have every survey we can get, so thank you all for weighing in and please tell your associates! If we don't see a last minute rush, then yes, we'll be a couple of thousand surveys under projections...but this data is going to work out just fine. Also, we're not really worried about people weighing in from other parts of the region and planet, we have several ways to track that. So far, 87% of the online respondents are reporting to be from some part of Tulsa. And those who did not respond to this question are not necessarily from other places. We're paying attention to this and other demographic returns.
4. Aa's idea is a very good one, especially since the census is being transformed into an on-going process, instead of a decennial one. See American Community Survey:
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/index.html Not sure what the rules are with gathering outside data, but it's a cool objective to try and get some continuous local input on these sorts of growth issues. I do not think that we can do this by the 18th, but I believe that planning, just like the census, should also evolve into an on-going process in Tulsa. I would also like to note that the statistical survey we started with last year has proven to be invaluable. We certainly want to work with Tulsans who are motivated about our future, but having actual statistics to compare with ideas and assertions is essential in understanding of what Tulsans want. Good call Double A. I have some ideas...contact me in any way that you are comfortable and I will respond in kind.
5. On the "bias" issue. This survey is actually the product of the workshops that many of you attended last fall and winter. Scenarios B, C, and D reflect the kinds of changes that you, and subsets of you, asked for in those workshops. So yes, I think it's fair to say there's a pro-change attitude in the survey...if someone is perfectly content with things as they are today, then why would they come to a workshop?
Nevertheless, Scenario A is there as a choice. It's a valuable baseline and it is useful to learn who is most content with the trend and where they live. I've had a couple of complaints that we should not show the indicators, i.e., the comparisons on population, jobs, congestions, etc., because they make "A" look bad. Again, the measures were developed with input from the statistical survey, workshops, and the Guiding Principles that Tulsans defined for us. These measures may not favor "A", but we believe they are reflective of the concerns of Tulsans.
5. We'll wait for the data to roll in, but I can say that, generally, the results seem reflective of things we've seen both in the workshops and in the statistical survey. "A" is not running away with it, as someone suggested.
6. I'm not aware of any conspiracies at this time...we're simply trying, as we have been all along, to get Tulsans to weigh in and help form a shared vision for the future. That involves getting all sorts of people to speak up, including people who don't always get along with each other. So please help us do that this week. Thanks. I'll check back soon.