Palo Alto's latest citizen survey doesn't contain any bombshell findings, but it does point to a welcome shift in residents' opinions about their local government and a troubling one when it comes to municipal utilities.

Like in year's past, an overwhelming majority of the more than 600 residents who responded indicated that they love their parks and neighborhoods and they still believe housing affordability is a massive problem.

But the results of the Annual Citizens Survey, which was conducted by Polco/National Resource Center, also include one finding that should give city officials a reason to smile and another that may give them pause. Compared to last year, a greater share of residents indicated that they believe their local government is doing a good job and that their city is moving in the right direction. It also, however, showed that more residents are anxious about the city's municipal utilities, an attitude shift that follows a year of sharp fluctuations in gas bills.

The survey, which was conducted in August and September, is intended to be statistically significant, with a margin of error rate of 4%, according to Polco. It's intended to be both an annual vibe check and a precursor to the council's priority-setting process, which takes place in January.

Most findings remained relatively unchanged from prior years. Like in past surveys, about nine in 10 respondents gave the city rave reviews (a "good" or "excellent" rating) when asked about parks, open spaces, libraries, firefighters and recreational activities. About 85% gave Palo Alto high ranks as a place to work (up from 79% in 2022). And while just 53% gave it good ratings as a place to retire (up from 46% in 2022).

Utilities, however, stood out as an area of concern after a year marked by the sharp spike in gas prices last December and January, storm-related power outages and concerns that the city's electrical grid is sufficient. Just 51% of the respondents gave the city high marks this year when asked about affordability of utility services, down from 58% in 2022. When it comes to getting a speedy response back from utilities, 75% of the respondents gave Palo Alto high ratings, down from 85% in 2022.

And even though 79% still gave the city high ratings when asked to rate the community value received from owning and operating utilities, this is a drop from 86% in 2022.

The natural gas price spike a year ago forced some bills to double or triple between December and February, but on Dec. 5, council members argued that the results in the Polco poll reflect perceptions more than reality.

They also pointed out repeatedly that the city's utility rates, despite last winter's surge, remain well below those charged by PG&E, the utility company in surrounding communities.

"I was expecting an even worse response on utilities based on those real severe impacts that happened to our ratepayers, and fortunately we are getting back to normal," Council member Pat Burt said during the Dec. 5 hearing.

While both the city utility and PG&E have both raised utility rates over the past year, Burt said the PG&E hikes to electricity rates are about twice as big as Palo Alto's. The gap between the municipal utility and PG&E continues to grow, he said.

Burt and other council members agreed that City of Palo Alto Utilities should do a better job communicating its relatively low rates through inserts in the monthly bill. Council member Julie Lythcott-Haims suggested that doing would enhance residents' appreciation for living in a city with its own utilities.

"When people don't realize how good they've got it, they're more likely to complain about the circumstances," Lythcott-Haims said.

On the bright side, residents were by and large satisfied with the overall performance of their local government. When asked to rate the honesty of the Palo Alto government, 62% gave the city the top two ratings, up from 53% last year and 55% in 2021.

Furthermore, 62% lauded the city for "treating all residents fairly," up from 50% in 2022 and 57% in 2021. And when asked if the city is overall going in the right direction, 54% gave the top two ratings, up from 42% last year and 40% in 2021.

Mayor Lydia Kou said she was pleased to see the city's ratings rise when it comes to "confidence in government," a topic that she said was a high priority for her.

She cited the council's recent efforts to gain more citizen engagement, including the various town halls that council members and senior staff hosted in neighborhoods throughout the city.

"It's really delightful and commendable that we have kind of come up on that bar," Kou said.

Council member Ed Lauing agreed and said that having more than 50% of the population giving high ratings to their government is "fantastic."

Housing, meanwhile, remains an obvious trouble spot, with 11% of survey respondents giving the city high marks when asked about "availability of affordable quality housing" and 26% doing so when asked about "variety of housing options." The rating has been consistently low for the 20 years that the survey has been in existence and has never been higher than 15%.

Lauing summarized the common sentiment as: "It costs way too much to live here but we love it here." Many of the open-ended responses to survey's questions about city performance backed up this assessment. When the survey asked residents to name the one change that the city could make that would make them happier, 23% of the respondents asked for more affordable housing.

"Make it a place that people who aren't millionaires would be able to live," wrote one respondent.

"Stop assuming we all own houses," wrote another.

Housing, however, wasn't the only issue on residents' minds. Many requested that the city do a better job maintaining streets and fixing up El Camino Real (issues related to streets and traffic comprised 15% of the responses, second only to housing).

Others focused on utilities and encouraged the city to either ban gas appliances or to avoid banning gas appliances.

Council member Vicki Veenker also noted that despite a slight dip in public sentiments about Palo Alto as a place to raise children (the percentage giving the city good ratings dropped from 87% in 2022 to 83% in 2023). More troubling is the relatively low percentage of people who called Palo Alto as a place to retire, which went up from 46% to 53% over the past year but which Veenker argued remains too low.

"I think caring for our oldest and youngest residents is something that we really want to keep a close eye on," Veenker said.