Recreation needs survey coming to mailboxes soon
January 23, 2025
Bend Park and Recreation District is seeking to better understand residents’ desires for organized recreation programs and services. A community wide survey will help the district to align recreation programs and services with the community’s priorities.
A statistically valid survey is being distributed to 5,000 household mailboxes beginning this weekend. Questions will be asked about what types of recreation programs and services residents currently use and want for their household and for the broader community, and where priorities should be placed.
“The results of this survey will provide critical information in determining community values, satisfaction levels, needs and priorities, to help guide the district’s short- and long-term recreation planning efforts,” said Matt Mercer, recreation services director.
BPRD’s last community recreation survey was in 2018. Since that time, Larkspur Community Center opened, and many recreation programs have grown and expanded in numbers of participants. With more than 1,000 recreation programs offered, the breadth of choices has grown steadily over the past 15 years.
“We encourage anyone who receives the mail survey to fill it out even if they are not a user of services or activities currently. You can help provide us with valuable insights, so we can do even better in the future,” added Mercer.
As follow-up, the district will invite all residents to provide feedback and input through an open-link online survey that will be available in mid-February. Responses to the online survey will be included in the final report to be completed this spring.
