Environment

General Population Survey Results
Non-English Speaking Survey Results
Community Leader Survey Results

General Population Survey Results

When asked about environmental aspects of Snohomish County, most respondents have a fairly high opinion of their community. A strong majority give high marks to the air and water quality and close to half agree that there are enough parks.

Water is Clean and Safe
Those most likely to strongly agree that the water is clean and safe to drink were:

• Older respondents, 55 or older (79%) compared to residents age 54 or younger (62%).
  
• Those with post graduate degrees (76%) versus those with some college or less education (64%).
  
• Respondents who had been in their homes more than a year (66%) compared to new arrivals (55%).
  
• Owners (70%) versus renters (56%).
  
• Those who rated their community "excellent" (77%) or "good" (67%) compared to those who said "fair/poor" (51%).

Air Quality is Acceptable
Respondents who strongly agree that the air quality is acceptable were:

• Those who rated their community "excellent" (78%) or "good" (66%) compared to those who said "fair/poor" (54%).
  
• Those who have not needed financial assistance in the past year (68%) compared to those who have (60%).
  
• North/East residents gave a mean score of 5.9, higher and more positive than the score for Everett/Hwy 99 (5.6).
  
• Three-quarters (75%) of North/East residents strongly agreed, as did 68% of View/S. Central residents compared to 60% of Everett/Hwy 99.
  

The oldest respondents, 65 or older (76%) compared to those 35 - 54 years of age (62%).

Community has Enough Parks/Green Spaces
Two in five (43%) of the respondents agree strongly that there are enough parks, they were most likely to be:

• Respondents with some college or less (46%) compared to those with post graduate work (30%).
  
• Lower income respondents, those below $55,000 (48%) compared to those who make $55,000 or more (37%).
  
• Respondents new to their homes, 5 years or less (49%) versus long term residents, 6 or more years (37%).
  
• Renters (51%) compared to owners (40%).
  
• Those who rated their community "excellent" (56%) compared to those who said "good" (38%) or "fair/poor" (42%).
  
• 49% of North/East residents agreed strongly compared to 39% of View/S. Central and 41% of Everett/Hwy99.

About two in ten (18%) respondents strongly disagreed with the statement that there are enough parks (1-2 rating on the 7 point scale.) These respondents were most likely to be:

• Those with three or more people in the household (21%) compared to those with two persons (14%).
  
• Respondents with children (22%) versus those without children (16%).
  
• Homeowners (20%) compared to renters (14%).

Water Drainage/Flooding is a Problem
Those who strongly disagree that drainage and flooding is a problem were:

• The oldest respondents, 65 or older (64%) compared to respondents age 54 or younger (49%).
  
• College graduates or those with post graduate work (56%) compared to those with less education (48%).
  
• Those who rated their community as "excellent" (60%) compared to those who said "good" (47%).
  
• Respondents in North/East awarded a mean score of 3.4, higher and more positive than View/S. Central and Everett/Hwy 99 (2.9 each).
  
• Residents in Everett/Hwy 99 and View/S. Central (54% each) were more likely than North/East residents (44%) to strongly disagree that drainage is a problem.

Sewage/Septic Failure is a Problem

• Those who rated their community "excellent" (72%) were most likely to strongly disagree that sewage is a problem compared to those who said "good" or "fair/poor" (57% each).
  
• There were no significant differences between regions.

Noisy Community
Respondents who strongly disagree that their community is too noisy were most likely to be:

• Owners (53%) compared to renters (43%).
  
• Residents who gave their community a rating "excellent" (68%) compared to those who said "good" (49%) or "fair/poor" (33%).
  
• North/East respondents, the most likely to disagree, awarded a mean score of 2.7 compared to 3.3 in Everett/Hwy 99 and 3.4 in View/S. Central.
  
• 63% of North/East residents strongly disagreed compared to 47% of Everett/Hwy99 residents and 45% of View/S. Central.

Those who strongly agree that their community is noisy, a 6-7 on the 7 point scale were:

• Respondents whose income is below $75,000 per year (22%) compared to those at or above $75,000 (12%).
  

Dumping of Garbage is a Hazard
Those who strongly disagree that dumping of garbage is a hazard were most likely to be:

• The oldest respondents, 65 or older (62%) compared to all others (45%).
  
• Respondents with a post graduate education (59%) compared to those with less education (46%).
  
• Those with children in the household (52%) versus those without children at home (43%).
  
• Residents who gave their community a rating "excellent" (56%) compared to those who said "good" (46%) or "fair/poor" (39%).
  
• View/S. Central (2.9) residents were the most likely to disagree compared with residents of North/East 3.5.
  
• Over half of the View/S. Central residents (53%) strongly disagreed while just 44% of the North/East disagreed.

Non-English Speaking Survey Results

Non-English speaking respondents are less positive about the environment in Snohomish County than the general population. Less than half (44%) strongly agreed that the water is clean and safe to drink and only 42% think the air quality is acceptable. This compares to 66% of the general population who strongly agreed that the water is clean and 67% who agreed the air quality is acceptable. Non-English respondents were more likely to have no strong feeling about water drainage or flooding problems in their community (40% compared to 30% of the general population). The same could be said about their reactions to the sewage or septic system, where 39% of non-English speaking respondents have no strong feeling (16% in the general population), and the level of noise in the community, where 57% of the non-English speaking respondents have no strong feeling (29% in the general population). Half of the general population (47%) strongly disagreed that dumping of garbage is a hazard in their community while 35% of the non-English speaking respondents strongly disagreed. One area where these respondents were more positive than the general population was with regard to parks and green spaces. Fifty percent (50%) strongly agreed their community has enough parks, while only 43% of the general population said the same thing.

Community Leader Survey Results

Water is Clean and Safe
More than three-quarters (77%) of respondents strongly agreed that the water is clean. Almost half (48%) gave a rating of 7 on the seven-point scale. These respondents were most likely to be:

• Over age 44 (54%) compared with those 44 or under (37%). The older respondents also gave a higher average rating (6.3) than did the youngest respondents, under 35 (5.6).
  
• Those who rated their community "excellent" (65%) compared to those who said "good" (40%) or "fair/poor" (38%). Those who said "excellent" (6.5) and "good" (6.0) had higher average ratings then those who said "fair/poor" (5.6).
  
• White respondents (51%) compared to Non-Whites (39%).
  

Air Quality is Acceptable
More than two-thirds (69%) strongly agreed and those who did tended to be:

• Respondents who rated their community "excellent" (84%) compared to those who said "good" (63%) or "fair/poor" (53%). Those who said "excellent" (6.3) and "good" (5.7) had higher average ratings then those who said "fair/poor" (5.2).
  

Community Has Enough Parks/Green Spaces
Almost half (46%) strongly agreed and they were most likely to be:

• Respondents who rated their community "excellent" (64%) compared to those who said "good" (35%) or "fair/poor" (38%). Those who said "excellent" (5.5) had a higher average rating than those who said "good" (4.7) or "fair/poor" (4.5).
  

Water Drainage/Flooding is a Problem
More than one-third (37%) disagreed with this statement and there were no significant differences by sub-group.

Sewage/Septic Failure is a Problem
Almost two-thirds (61%) of the respondents disagreed with this statement and there were no significant differences by sub-group.

Noisy Community
Almost half (43%) don't think noise is an issue in their community. Those most likely to feel that way were:

• Those who rated their community "excellent" (56%) compared to those who said "good" (36%) or "fair/poor" (28%).
  
• Those who have worked in the county for less than 3 years (58%) compared to those who have worked for 3-10 years in Snohomish County (35%).
  

• Those who rated their community "excellent" (65%) compared to those who said "good" (52%) or "fair/poor" (44%).
  
• White respondents (58%) compared to non-whites (44%).
  
• Respondents who work for mid-size companies or organizations with 100 to 500 employees or members (66%) compared to those with more than 500 (49%).