Unbiased survey? - you decide!

Hat tip to Rambix reader and frequent tip contributor Liemaso for this story published in the 3/7/06 Pioneer Press, internet edition: "Minneapolis is mostly contented, says survey".

The "survey" is billed as a "city survey", with random phone contacts of 1277 residents.

The random phone survey of 1,277 residents found some numbers the city might boast about — and a few to cringe at.

There is no methodology listed, no breakdown of survey participant backgrounds. Despite that, we can safely assume that the vast majority are liberals who are blissfully ignorant of the realities that surround them.

Even so, only 55% feel "somewhat safe" when they go downtown. Here are the other alleged findings:

• 87 percent say it's a good place to live.
• 83 percent say city employees are respectful — when they can be reached.
• 25 percent feel the city has gotten worse in the past two years; 22 percent say it's gotten better.
• 21 percent find their home too small, while 6 percent believe their home is too big.
• 55 percent say they feel "somewhat safe" when they go downtown.

Take it for what it's worth, which isn't a lot at this point. What we can tell is that even if the survey is slanted and biased, the number of people feeling safe in Rybak's Minneapolis is shamefully low.

If anyone has a link to a site where the actual survey is posted, or a site that gives the methodology and questions, please post it in comments or send it to: rambix@ix.netcom.com.