In a recent online survey, although residents hailed Glen Ridge for its tree-lined charm, they also had safety concerns. The borough pool was known to almost everyone but not everyone uses it.
It may come as no surprise, but according to a recently concluded borough survey, residents say that because of the school system and proximity to New York City, life is good in Glen Ridge and high taxes are their number one concern.
Sixty percent expressed this with their next big concern, housing costs, cited by 20 percent. Also expressed was a need for more youth-related programs.
The questionnaire was conducted by the online platform SurveyMonkey and coordinated by Mayor Debbie Mans and Councilman Steve Zimet. It is being shared with the council and community. About 1,120 residents completed the survey. Fifty-three percent of the responders were women and 38 % were men. Three percent indicated they preferred not to answer the question.
Services that facilitated getting rid of household stuff had the highest residential awareness and actual use. Ninety-five percent of the respondents knew bulk pickup service was available and 87 percent took advantage of it.
Electronic and styrofoam recycling had a 65 % awareness figure and 41 % usage. Freecycle, where residents give away items of value for reuse had a 64 % awareness and 34 % usage.
Yet awareness did not necessarily translate into actual use of a service or amenity. The community pool had 93 % awareness, but only 29 % used the membership-only facility. There may have been a good reason for this disparity.
“You age out of it,” Zimet said, citing his own experience. “A family may not need it anymore.”
The public library seemed to have a good balance of awareness and usage. Its programs were known by 84 % of the respondents and utilized by 54 % of them. At the bottom of the list for both awareness and use was the health department and social services.
Borough-wide events most widely known were the summertime Lager Run, the Thanksgiving Day Ashenfelter 8K, the Memorial Day parade, the Arts & Eco Fair (upcoming) and the lighting of the Christmas tree on the town hall lawn.
Residents prized the historic nature of the borough with its tree-lined streets and gas lamps, but at the same time were concerned with safety and security while walking, biking or driving. According to Zimet, people complained that gas lamps do not adequately illuminate the streets. It was a Catch-22, he said, and mentioned another concern.
“For people new to the borough, it can be tough to get integrated,” he said. “We’re thinking of organizing a meet-up.”
Asked what were the biggest challenges facing Glen Ridge, socioeconomic, racial and cultural diversity was relatively prominent with 15 % saying so. This was tied at 15 % with safety and security concerns on the street. But political and cultural polarization was not so much seen as a concern at 6 %.
In fact, the concerns broken down by the numbers fell into three groups. At the pinnacle was property taxes. The second group was also in double digits, but deemed far less challenging than taxes. These were housing costs, safety and security, access to fields and gyms, quality of school, traffic and commuting services.
The third group was in the single digits. These were concerns about political and cultural polarization, climate/weather issues such as flooding, safety and security at home, green spaces and safety and security in the schools.
Zimet said part of the reason for the survey was to learn the source of a person’s town-related information. The top three sources were the borough email with 55 %, the borough website and school emails with 46 and 44 %, respectively.
“People said we should use email,” Zimet said, “but we have a robust email. They just didn’t know.”
At zero percent, virtually no one watched Glen Ridge Public Access TV. The print edition of The Glen Ridge Paper, the only non-digital information source listed, was at 5 %.
Most people said when they have a question, they turn to the borough website or a neighbor. Least frequently do they contact sources provided by the mayor, borough council or police department. But conversely, when a resident had a complaint, most of the time they would contact a borough employee directly.
Regardless of the highs and lows of the survey, Zimet said it showed that people love the Glen Ridge ethos.
“We’re not going to be able to deliver on all complaints,” he said, “but we’re doing the best we can.”
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