New investment survey aims to address neighborhood challenges in Detroit

DETROIT – Organizers are urging residents to complete the Neighborhood Vitality Index survey.

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They said your feedback will be vital in helping city leaders, foundations, and community development groups gauge what Detroiters feel is important.

Across Detroit, you’ll find a variety of neighborhoods and countless neighbors with unique perspectives and lived experiences.

“This is a beautiful city,” said Kelvin Randolph while walking home from the grocery store along Parker Avenue on Detroit’s east side. “I don’t want to leave it.”

However, some longtime residents admit their neighborhoods have some challenges that must be addressed.

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“The blight,” Randolph said. “Transportation for seniors. Home improvement for people that have been here all their lives. We don’t have access to that. It’s hard for us to get access to that.”

He’s not alone in chiming in about challenges.

“They need to build a grocery store down there,” said Phyllis Irvin. “We haven’t had a grocery store down there in about seven years. Close to seven years. I have to go way down to Walmart, 12 Mile, and Gratiot to do grocery shopping.”

It’s that real perspective that the city of Detroit and its partners, with Data Drive Detroit and JFM Consulting Group, want to hear from residents in the Neighborhood Vitality Index survey.

The survey asks for residents’ truthful responses to various topics and issues.

“The purpose of the survey is to get input from residents so that there’s data available to make investment decisions in the city,” said Jane Morgan, President of JFM Consulting Group. “So, this information would be used by the city, by foundations, by community development organizations, to ensure that the decisions that are made are driven by what the residents really want.”

The Neighborhood Vitality Index survey is asking Detroiters about a range of issues including safety, streets and infrastructure, transportation, access to health care, parks and public spaces, education, housing conditions, support of local businesses and more.

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The Department of Neighborhoods Director, Ray Solomon, II, also submitted some key questions for the survey.

“We’re asking are you a Block Club,” Solomon said. “Would you like to be a Block Club? Do you need help to staff up the Block Club?”

The survey is open to residents aged 18 and older.

The organizers of the Neighborhood Vitality Index survey hope to get responses from at least 6,000 Detroiters by Dec. 31, 2024.

The first 4,500 residents to complete the Neighborhood Vitality Index survey will receive a $25 gift card.

Click here to find the survey, or it can be taken over the phone by calling 313-290-0992.