With a few days left before a self-imposed Friday deadline, Carson City parks officials have received nearly 40 percent more surveys than they'd expected on community desires for recreation.
"We've gotten a tremendous response," said Carson City Park Planner Vern Krahn. "We're getting some great data."
The Carson City Parks and Recreation Department mailed 3,000 of the six-page surveys to registered voters in early May, hoping to get 600 returned for a 95 percent statistically valid result. As of Tuesday, 823 have come back and a pleasantly surprised parks department is waiting for a few more.
An original deadline of May 30 had been set for gathering completed forms, but the parks department has pushed it back to Friday.
With the city creating a new master plan to help guide the future growth of Carson City, the parks department is also mapping out priorities.
"We're putting a lot of weight on this survey to give us some direction," Krahn said.
The survey touches on Carson City trails, parks big and small, sports, open space, facilities like tennis and basketball courts and a proposed new recreation center.
Krahn said the city already gets comments on parks and recreation issues at its many public meetings, but those comments are often from the same core group of people or from organized groups.
"It's not a statistically valid cross-section of the community that comes to these meetings," Krahn said.
The survey should also help clear up some issues parks officials have been struggling with, such as parks versus trails.
Carson City has fewer neighborhood parks than many communities but it also has trails, and trail-lovers have suggested that resources that might go toward small parks instead be spent on enhancing the trail system. Krahn said the survey will help planners gauge the average resident's interest in both.
The completed surveys are being sent to the University of Nevada, Reno's Cooperative Extension office for tabulation. Krahn said the results will likely be unveiled at a Parks and Recreation Commission meeting later this month.
n Contact reporter Cory McConnell at cmcconnell@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.