May 2006 · Volume 88 · Number 4 

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THE NEIGHBORHOOD WALK: AN INNOVATION THAT WORKS 
In Medford, Oregon, we use our “Neighborhood Walk”—actually it’s more of a home get-together than it is an actual walk—as an organized, innovative way of obtaining feedback on city services— and more. It is a positive alternative to reliance on a complaint system. 
The Neighborhood Walk helps us obtain accurate information from residents because it provides both positive feedback and unthreatening negative feedback about local government services. It also provides a database on city services as well as other issues that we can classify citywide, or by neighborhood, ward, or district. 
Finally, the Neighborhood Walk often narrows or closes the distance between public servants and the individuals they serve. The reason is simple: when the top staff of local government meet with citizens in their homes for 20 to 40 minutes, discussing their neighborhood and their city, something positive inevitably happens to the relationship between the citizens and the public employees. 
Some scenarios demonstrate potential uses of the Neighborhood Walk:
Before a council meeting, seats in the council chambers start filling with citizens who show up to express opposition to a proposed project—a project sponsored by either the public or private sector. When these citizens express themselves during public meetings, their comments are emotional and one- sided. How well do you or the elected officials handle this? Do you possess any specific tools or databases that deal directly with the problem at hand? Are you relying, as usual, on only the legal process that brings issues to your elected officials for decision making? 
Another example: A perceived or actual problem exists between the police department and an individual or segment of your community, and the media is interested—no, eager—to report on it. Media reports may carry negative overtones or quotations. Have you wondered whether some tool or way could help deal with these potentially harmful situations as well as others when the worth and credibility of public sector employees and services are criticized or attacked? 
Here is what works for us in Medford.
PROCESS
We use our innovative feedback and community relations system, called the Neighborhood Walk, to address these situations and others that may arise. The Neighborhood Walk connects public employees with citizens, in their own homes, to conduct a survey on local government services, neighborhood issues, citywide perceptions, and other topics of current interest and usefulness. This is what we do: 
On the first Tuesday of every month, 24 teams made up of city employees, two per team, travel to a previously designated neighborhood and call on the people who live at three separate addresses; these people were notified earlier of the date, the time, and the purpose of the employees’ visit. 
The teams, comprising one woman and one man (this is the least threatening or intimidating combination for residents to see on their doorsteps), conduct a 27-question survey that asks about city services, issues in the neighborhood and community, and other subjects of interest and value. The city manager, all department directors, elected officials, and other staff are regular team participants. 
If three surveys cannot be accomplished at the planned addresses because people are not home, then additional addresses are used for “cold contacting” in order to complete the task of obtaining three surveys by each team. The typical monthly Neighborhood Walk, made up of three stops, is concluded in less than two hours. 
RESULTS
Results of each monthly survey are entered into a database that by now provides Medford with information on a cumulative and monthly basis for the entire city as well as by ward and neighborhood. It is very important that surveys are accomplished in our residents’ homes because this establishes a more human and personal side to government and its service providers.
The database that has grown out of the surveys also serves as an aid to appointed and elected decision makers by providing information on residents’ attitudes toward such topics as neighborhood shopping centers, overall and specific quality-of-life issues, neighborhood ratings, crime, and police service. To date, more than 2,000 surveys have been completed; they provide a diverse database representing customers’ experiences, preferences, and attitudes toward city services. 
Also, Medford’s managers and staff now possess information on home ownership, length of residency, criminal activity, feelings of safety in neighborhoods, numbers of homes with computers and with Internet access, and residents’ sources of information on city programs and projects. The most useful outcome, however, is that city officials now can use the database for priority setting and policy and operational decision making.
With the database as a decision-making tool, city staff can now consult local maps showing, for example, where the lack of sidewalks is considered “less than suitable” or “unacceptable.” Prioritizing limited funds for sidewalk construction is easier now that we know which neighborhoods have registered the most complaints—or no complaints. With this information, we were able to pass a bond issue ballot question because we knew the extent of citizens’ desires for sidewalk improvements. 
Another advantage of this person-toperson survey is our newfound ability to create maps showing ratings of police services that are “less than satisfactory” or “unacceptable.” Wouldn’t you like to know whether these kinds of responses are randomly dispersed throughout the community or whether they concentrate in certain neighborhoods? In Medford, thanks to the Neighborhood Walk, we know the answers to these questions! When a zoning issue is on the coun cil’s agenda and a group of residents is loudly opposing a new commercial development in the neighborhood, the Neighborhood Walk database can confirm or deny their position. Aided by the Neighborhood Walk database, the council can note the public clamor but make a decision based on specific indicators that represent community attitudes on the issue before them—again, thanks to the Neighborhood Walk. 
In an age of challenge to and distrust of government and other institutions, perhaps the greatest value of all is the degree of trust that can be established by two city employees sitting down in someone’s living room or kitchen and asking residents to tell them how the city is doing when it provides services to them. These positive and friendly interactions reestablish and then strengthen the bridge between public servants and residents. 
To further emphasize our sincerity, toward the end of the survey we ask whether there is anything in the neighborhood that the city needs to attend to. Within three weeks, the city responds to all requests growing out of that question. In this way, we add value to our visit by demonstrating our willingness and capacity to resolve any issues brought forward from that question or from any other issue raised during the survey.  

VALUED FEEDBACK TOOL
Medford has implemented a system and a tool that provides personal feedback from citizens who rate city services. Staff also learn how citizens obtain information on city events, projects, and issues, and they learn about the extent of home ownership and length of city residency, access to the Internet, and the frequency and degree of concern over neighborhood crime and other neighborhood subjects. 
In an age and in a nation that prides itself on being technologically connected, we have connected our local government with our residents by simply sitting down and meeting with our citizens in their homes—an old idea made new. 
—Michael Dyal, ICMA-CM 
City Manager 
Medford, Oregon 
mike.dyal@ci.medford.or.us 
© 2006 International City/County Management Association. Please notify us if you experience any problems.