Recreation/Senior Center and Aquatic Center Expansion Task Force Agenda and Packet 2016 03 16

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Louisville Recreation, Senior, & Aquatics Center Expansion Study INTRODUCTION The purpose of this study was to gather public feedback on the Louisville Recreation /Senior Center and Memory Square swimming pool. This survey research effort and subsequent analysis were designed to assist the City of Louisville and Sink Combs Dethlefs in creating an architectural plan to renovate, improve, and expand existing recreational facilities and services. METHODOLOGY The survey was conducted using three primary methods: 1) an online, invitation -only web survey, 2) an open -link online survey for members of the public who were not part of the invitation sample, and 3) an additional open -link online survey sent in an email blast to people on the Louisville Recreation /Senior Center's contact list. The analysis throughout the presentation on 3/16/2016 will primarily focus on responses from the statistically -valid invitation sample. However, open link and recreation center email list responses are depicted in some of the graphs presented in this packet to provide a comparison of all three samples. The primary list source used for the mailing was a third party list purchased from Melissa Data Corp., a leading provider of data with emphasis on U.S., Canadian, and international address and phone verification, as well as postal software. By using the Melissa Data list in Louisville, we were able to include renters in the sample; they are frequently missed in other list sources such as utility billing lists. A total of 4,000 surveys were mailed to a random sample of Louisville residents in February 2016. The final sample size for this statistically valid survey was 690, resulting in a margin of error of approximately +/- 3.7 percentage points calculated for questions at 50% response'. The public open -link survey generated an additional 239 completed responses, and the recreation center contact list open -link survey generated an additional 581 responses. The underlying data were weighted by age to ensure appropriate representation of Louisville residents across different demographic cohorts in the sample. Using the 2014 American Community Survey 5 -year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, the age distribution within the invitation respondent sample was matched to the 2014 demographic profile of the City of Louisville. Due to variable response rates by some segments of the population, the underlying results, while weighted to best match the overall demographics of residents, may not be completely representative of some sub - groups of the population. 1 For the total invitation sample size of 690, margin of error is +1- 3.7 percent calculated for questions at 50% response (if the response for a particular question is "50 %" —the standard way to generalize margin of error is to state the larger margin, which occurs for responses at 50 %). Note that the margin of error is different for every single question response on the survey depending on the resultant sample sizes, proportion of responses, and number of answer categories for each question. Comparison of differences in the data between various segments, therefore, should take into consideration these factors. As a general comment, it is sometimes more appropriate to focus attention on the general trends and patterns in the data rather than on the individual percentages. RRC Associates, Inc.