Thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts in the 2026 Roosevelt Neighborhood Priorities survey!
Survey Response Demographics
We had 74 people answer the survey, representing a diverse group of home owners, renters, and Roosevelt visitors, who have been living in and loving Roosevelt for anywhere from less than a year to 10+!
Roosevelt offers a broad range of activities to enjoy close to home – 85% of respondents regularly (once a week or more) shop in Roosevelt, 82% regularly go out to eat at Roosevelt restaurants, and 77% are regularly visiting Roosevelt parks!
Neighborhood Satisfaction
Overwhelmingly, people agreed that spending time in Roosevelt contributes meaningfully to their overall happiness: on a scale of 1 (disagree completely) and 10 (agree completely), 75% of respondents gave an 8, 9, or 10! Similarly, feelings were quite positive in agreement that all people are welcome and have opportunities to thrive in Roosevelt, with an average score of 7.46 and 80% of respondents giving a score of 7 or more.
Feelings were more mixed on opportunities to engage with the community decision making process, with an average score of 6.12, and whether Roosevelt is set up to grow and thrive in the future, with an average score of 6.61. Going forward, the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association will be looking for ways to include more community voices to collaboratively design and implement forward-looking plans for our small-but-mighty neighborhood!
Priority Issues
Survey respondents were presented 10 major issues that has been identified through a community visioning activity at the 2025 Rooted in Roosevelt Festival, and conversations during neighborhood potlucks, Adopt-a-Street pickups, and more. Respondents were asked to rate how important each issue was to them (pink bar in the graph), and how satisfied they were with the current state of the issue (red bar in the graph). High priority issues are those that were ranked with high importance scores and low satisfaction scores, shown by the yellow bar in the graph.
The issues with the biggest difference between importance and satisfaction were (1) Local business health (variety, vitality, vacancies), (2) Business security (break-ins, theft, vandalism), (3) Housing (access, affordability, diversity of options) (4) Personal safety (crime, lighting, feeling safe). Given a chance to choose their own top three priority issues, a few other priorities emerged, with parks and walking/rolling/biking infrastructure added to the above list
Elaborating on their responses, neighbors shared the importance of keeping storefronts active, supporting small independent businesses, and challenges for both renters and businesses from rising rent prices and harmful incentives for landlords. Related to parks, neighbors want to see more public spaces for community events, especially spaces for kids and teens, and to see the city make good on past promises for new green space in central Roosevelt. Finally, safety was a resounding theme, with calls to address personal safety through initiatives to reduce risk of assaults and theft, and creating safer streets by reducing car speeds, bike protections, and increased accessibility of sidewalks and parking for disabled residents.
Putting Priorities into Practice
These findings were front of mind as the Roosevelt Neighbor Association set our workplan for 2026. Focusing on the issues that neighborhood councils like the RNA can influence, we identified the following categories to focus on in the coming year:
- Supporting Local Businesses: In collaboration with the Roosevelt-Ravenna Business Alliance, we will identify opportunities to increase foot traffic, elevate awareness of the diversity and quality of businesses that call Roosevelt and Ravenna home, and support businesses to look for and apply to grants and funding opportunities.
- Increasing Community Engagement: Bringing people together and activating our streets will help create a safer and more resilient community. We will pursue opportunities to host a regular cadence of events that will appeal to a diversity of residents, floating ideas like Jazz in the Park, Roosevelt Downtown activation events for halloween and the holidays, ‘Get Loose with the Moose’ social nights at local pubs and breweries, and potlucks in conjunction with regular RNA meetings to help welcome new members.
- Developing Parks and Public Spaces: Roosevelt currently lacks a central park space to host large community events and festivals. While full development of a park in central Roosevelt will take a significant amount of community advocacy, we are planning to reactivate this initiative in 2026 and in the meantime look for opportunities to activate and energize public spaces through pop-up events, art and beautification, and building public awareness and mobilization to advance the political processes needed to move park development forward.
- Activating Vacant Lots and Storefronts: Widely acknowledged as a critical issue for Roosevelt both in the survey and in everyday neighborhood conversations, the RNA is exploring a spectrum of options to beautify these neglected spaces while pursuing backchannels with City Council, landlords, and developers to move stalled land use actions forward, attract new independent businesses to Roosevelt, and advocate for neighbor-centric priorities of maintaining tree cover, increasing affordable housing, and ensuring the ongoing maintenance of community resources.
Do these ideas sound interesting to you? Do you have talents, skills, experiences, or passions that you could use to help your neighborhood continue to develop into a thriving and beautiful place to live, work, and play? We are always looking for new people to join these efforts. You don’t have to be an expert in anything! As a small, completely volunteer-run neighborhood council, our ability to effect change is directly tied to the number of people who are willing to help dive in, explore what is possible, and make it happen! The easiest way to get involved is to show up to any RNA-sponsored event or meetings, which are held on the first Wednesday of each month from 7:30 – 9 pm at the Cedar Crossing Community Room (entrance on the plaza). You can expect a warm welcome, a quick introduction to how we work, and then to dive right into discussions on ongoing activities, planning for new initiatives, and deciding on next steps for making tangible change in Roosevelt!