Dec. 3, 2000

The survey says: blacks and whites 
don't differ much in opinions about
Oak Park

Only a few major differences reported

By ERIC LINDEN

Flawed as it may be, a recent telephone survey survey paid for by Oak
Park village government  shows that whites and African Americans in Oak
Park don't differ much on their views of life in the village.

Of all the questions asked of residents in a recent survey about various
and extensive aspects of Oak Park life, only a handful of questions
showed a double-digit difference in the responses of black and white
residents. That may or may not be revealing, however, as the National
Research Center in Boulder, Colo., the firm hired by village hall to to
the study, admits in its report that the weighing of data resulted in
"imperfect, although very close" to perfect results.

The double-digit-difference questions were led by one asking if the ban
on overnight parking on the village's streets should be eliminated. To
that question, 59 percent of African Americans in Oak Park were noted as
favoring elimination, while 40 percent of whites said they believed the
overnight parking ban should be ended and overnight parking should be
allowed on streets.

The only other questions where blacks surveyed differed by more than 10
points from whites' responses, according to the survey, were:

* Whether the Oak Park community is accepting and open to people of
different backgrounds. To that question, on a scale of 0 to 100, blacks
in Oak Park rated the performance at a 64, while whites ranked Oak Park
in that statement at a 78.

* Sixty-six percent of African Americans were reported to have "made a
purchase" on the Internet. For whites, that number was 43 percent.

* Asked to rank "enforcement of traffic laws," on a scale of 0 to 100,
African Americans' rank was 71. Whites gave traffic enforcement at a
lower rank of 59.

* Whites saw alley maintenance, or lack of it, as more of a problem than
blacks by 14 percent.

* A whopping 85 percent of African Americans said it was "very
important" that their community is racially and ethnically diverse. A
lower number of whites, 66 percent, thought diversity in their home town
was "very important."

* By an even higher total of 92 percent, though, blacks believed it was
important to promote racial diversity. The percentage of whites wanting
active promotion of diversity was 75 percent.

* Whites, by 72 to 61 scale rating, see crime in Oak Park as more of a
problem than blacks, which is still not high.

* And finally, blacks and whites split heavily on their readership of
the two local newspapers that cover Oak Park. In the survey, 55 percent
of African Americans cited the Oak Leaves as a place they get "a lot" of
their information about Oak Park. The Wednesday Journal was cited by 32
percent as the place where African Americans get "a lot" of their local
information.

But in the other categories noted in the survey, both blacks and whites
virtually agreed that--except for parking--Oak Park was headed in
positive directions, provided good services and otherwise acted in a
positive fashion. With the ever-present survey "margin of error" at 3
1/2 points or percent, here, without further adieu, are the survey's
results on how blacks and white rated the following questions in the
following categories.

OVERALL OPINIONS

How would you describe the quality of life in the Village of Oak Park?
(On a 0-100 scale, 0=poor, 100=excellent)
African Americans, 75
Whites/Casucasians, 79

How do you rate ...?

Quality of your neighborhood?
African Americans, 69
White/Caucasians, 75

Oak Park as a place to raise children?
African Americans, 84
Whites/Caucasians, 80

Oak Park as a place to retire?
African Americans, 68
Whites/Caucasians, 60

Oak Park's sense of community?
African Americans, 68
Whites/Caucasians, 72

Overall appearance?
African Americans, 77
Whites/Caucasians, 78

Shopping opportunities?
African Americans, 52
Whites/Caucasians, 56

Access to buildings and services to individuals with disabilities?
African Americans, 60
Whites/Caucasians, 61

Quality of cable television service?
African Americans, 51
Whites/Caucasians, 54

Interactions between people of different races?
African Americans, 59
Whites/Caucasians, 67

Openness and acceptance of the community toward people of diverse
backgrounds?
African Americans, 64
Whites/Caucasians, 78
 

AREAS OF CONCERN
(0=extreme problem, 100=not a problem)

Traffic in Oak Park
African Americans,  54
Whites/Caucasians, 43

Crime
African Americans,  72
Whites/Caucasians, 61

Graffiti
African Americans, 74
Whites/Caucasians 67

Run down houses and buildings
African Americans, 71
Whites/Caucasians, 66

Noise
African Americans, 65
Whites/Caucasians, 58

Parking
African Americans, 24
Whites/Caucasians, 24

Use of tobacco by youth
African Americans, 55
Whites/Caucasians, 52

Racial balance in schools
African Americans, 59
Whites/Caucasians, 62
 

FEELINGS ABOUT OTHER ASPECTS OF OAK PARK
(Percent feeling unsafe)

How unsafe do you feel from violent crimes such as rape and robbery?
African Americans, 6
Whites/Caucasians, 13

How unsafe from property crimes such as burglary and theft?
African Americans, 17
Whites/Caucasians, 22

How unsafe from fires?
African Americans, 7
Whites/Caucasians, 5
 

TOOK ADVANTAGE OF SERVICES

Used the public libraries
African Americans, 3 to 12 times was leading category of  36 percent
Whites/Caucasians, 3 to 12 times was leading category of 33 percent

Used park district recreation center
African Americans, once or never was leading category of 48 percent
Whites/Caucasians, once or never was leading category of 49 percent

Watched a village board meeting or other civic activity on cable
television
African Americans, once or never was leading category of 66 percent
Whites/Caucasians, once or never was leading category of 76 percent

Purchased an item other than food or groceries in Oak Park
African Americans, more than 26 times was the leading category of 41
percent
Whites/Caucasians, more than 26 times was the leading category of 37
percent

Made a purchase over the Internet
African Americans, once or never was the leading category of 66 percent
Whites/Caucasians, once or never was the leading category of 43 percent
 

OPINION OF SERVICES
(0=poor, 100=excellent)

Police Department services
African Americans, 73
Whites/Caucasians, 74

Crime prevention services
African Americans, 67
Whites/Caucasians, 65

Enforcement of traffic laws
African Americans, 71
Whites/Caucasians, 59

Fire services
African Americans, 79
Whites/Caucasians, 81

Emergency services/amblances
African Americans, 78
Whites/Caucasians, 81

Garbage collection
African Americans, 72
Whites/Caucasians, 72

Recycling
African Americans, 71
Whites/Caucasians, 70

Water and sewer services
African Americans, 70
Whites/Caucasians, 69

Street repairs
African Americans, 66
Whites/Caucasians, 57

Street cleaning
African Americans, 75
Whites/Caucasians, 68

Snow removal
African Americans, 62
Whites/Caucasians, 61

Street lighting
African Americans, 67
Whites/Caucasians, 65

Sidewalk repairs
African Americans, 60
Whites/Caucasians, 53

Alley maintenance
African Americans, 59
Whites/Caucasians, 45

Parking services
African Americans, 36
Whites/Caucasians, 33

Care of trees along parkways
African Americans, 73
Whites/Caucasians, 66

Leaf collection
African Americans, 73
Whites/Caucasians, 70

Animal control
African Americans, 64
Whites/Caucasians, 65

Public health services
African Americans, 70
Whites/Caucasians, 68

Overall village government services
African Americans, 72
Whites/Caucasians, 69
 

SERVICES FROM LOCAL AGENCIES OTHER THAN VILLAGE HALL
(0=poor, 100=excellent)
Library services
African Americans, 81
Whites/Caucasians, 79

Parks and recreation
African Americans, 78
Whites/Caucasians, 79

Services to senior citizens
African Americans, 74
Whites/Caucasians, 75

Services to youth
African Americans, 75
Whites/Caucasians, 69

Mental health services
African Americans, 67
Whites/Caucasians, 69

Public schools
African Americans, 77
Whites/Caucasians, 74
 

OPINIONS OF VILLAGE HALL EMPLOYEES

 Have you had phone/in-person contact with Village of Oak Park employee
in last 12 months?
African Americans, 62 percent yes
Whites/Caucasians, 74 percent yes

Impression of recent contact
(0=poor, 100=excellent)

Knowledge
African Americans, 68
Whites/Caucasians, 69

Responsiveness
African Americans, 67
Whites/Caucasians, 65

Courtesy
African Americans, 71
Whites/Caucasians, 72

Overall impression
African Americans, 67
Whites/Caucasians, 67
 

GENERAL OPINIONS
(0=poor, 100=excellent)

Pleased with overall direction of Village of Oak Park
African Americans, 72
Whites/Caucasians, 69

Village of Oak Park welcomes citizen involvement
African Americans, 72
Whites/Caucasians, 69

What effect has economic development had on the overall quality of life?

African Americans, 73 percent positive
Whites/Caucasians, 72 percent positive

Overall, what effect has economic development had on residential
property in Oak Park?
African Americans, 49 positive
Whites/Caucasians, 56 positive

How satisfied are you with efforts to promote economic development in
Oak Park?
African Americans, 85 percent satisfied
Whites/Caucasians, 80 percent satisfied

In general, how informed are you on what goes on in Oak Park?
African Americans, 28 percent said very informed
Whites/Caucasians, 22 percent said very informed
 

SOURCE OF INFORMATION
(Percent saying "a lot")

Friends/neighbors
African Americans, 21
Whites/Caucasians, 20

Wednesday Journal newspaper
African Americans, 32
Whites/Caucasians, 37

Oak Leaves newspaper
African Americans, 55
Whites/Caucasians, 37

Village hall mailings
African Americans, 37
Whites/Caucasians, 31

Cable television
African Americans, 13
Whites/Caucasians, 5

Chicago newspapers
African Americans, 13
Whites/Caucasians, 7

Chicago radio/television
African Americans, 14
Whites/Caucasians, 7
 

SOME FINAL POINTS

Do you have Internet access at home?
African Americans, 66 percent yes
Whites/Caucasians, 74 percent yes

Eliminate overnight parking ban?
African Americans, 59 percent yes
Whites/Caucasians, 40 percent yes

How important is it for community to be racially and ethnically diverse?

African Americans, 85 percent yes
Whites/Caucasians, 66 percent yes

Is it necessary to promote racial and ethnic diversity?
African Americans, 92, percent yes
Whites/Caucasians, 75 percent yes
 

The telephone survey was conducted by National Research Center in
September, and the survey was completed by 802 Oak Park residents. The
company had purchased 3,900 randomly selected telephone numbers from a
company that specializes in telephone survey services. Of that number,
contact could not be established with 1,138 persons. 900 of the numbers
were for places not eligible such as businesses and pagers, 859 refused
to participate, 116 blocked the survey call, two were reported as "over
quota," 48 were reported to have "language problems" and 802 completed
the survey.

And now, residents can be forgiven for asking how credible the survey
is. According to National Research, blacks made up 16 percent of the
residents surveyed, which is lower than the 1990 census of 18 percent
blacks in Oak Park's population. But since village hall's planning
division estimates that Oak Park currently is about 24 percent African
American, National Research "weighted" the survey to reflect results
that would occur if 24 percent of those surveyed had been African
American residents.

Oak Park village hall officials, however, believe the survey data gives
an accurate reflection of Oak Park residents' opinions. Those officials
have said they will use the survey results as a guide in future policies
and practices and in trying to recognize and rectify any problem areas.