A survey of Park City residents found that locals believe population growth and economic development are occurring too quickly.
Park City participated in the Utah Wellbeing Survey Project along with 32 other Utah cities this year, and the city recently released the results.
The survey, which was in partnership with the League of Cities and Towns and Utah State University, sought to assess city residents’ satisfaction with assorted elements of life.
Nearly 400 residents took the survey, representing roughly 5% of the city’s adult population. Of those, 88% were full-time residents. Park City rated high for physical health, safety, and living standards.
The majority of respondents said their top concerns include water supply, roads and transportation, air quality, and climate change.
85% of those surveyed said development in Park City is happening too fast. That was far higher than any other city’s residents responding on that subject. Moab has the second highest number of residents who felt that way, at 65%.
Park City also led all other cities with more than 90% of people saying population growth was too much to handle.
Parkites did report they are loving life - about 80% ranked their personal wellbeing as good or excellent. Those responses were on par with residents in other communities around Utah.
When ranking Park City’s overall community wellbeing, a little over half of survey takers said that was good or excellent. That actually was lower than the statewide average on that question.
Survey responses about wellbeing differed widely, with demographic factors like age and income level affecting answers.
The survey’s report also showed declines in wellbeing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a previous pilot survey, which was conducted in pre-COVID 2019, Park City ranked highest in the state in community wellbeing and second in personal wellbeing. However, only 52 people participated in that survey.
The survey results showed that resident action and feelings of community connection were stronger in Park City than most other communities that offered the survey. The majority of respondents said that they had attended a city council, planning commission, or city-related meeting in the past year.
In the open comments section, many of the growth and development concerns related to Vail Resorts, the owner of Park City Mountain.
The survey has a margin of error of 5.5%
A link to full survey results can be found here.
