City of Englewood Park and Recreation 2023 Ballot Measure Survey

Magellan Strategies is pleased to present the topline results of an online survey of 1,036 registered voters in the City of Englewood, Colorado. The interviews were conducted from May 22nd – June 5th, 2023.

This survey was commissioned by the City of Englewood, Colorado to gauge registered voter sentiment around a potential parks and recreation bond measure. The vast majority of respondents indicated they were likely to vote in a local bond measure election, suggesting strong civic engagement among those surveyed.

When asked about facility usage, city parks, playgrounds, and open spaces were the most frequently visited amenities, with most residents reporting regular visits. Belleview Park and the Englewood Public Library were the most commonly used managed facilities, while Broken Tee Golf Course and Malley Recreation Center saw the lowest visitation rates.

Residents expressed broad satisfaction with how the city managed its parks and recreation areas, with a strong majority approving of the city’s performance. However, views on the city’s fiscal responsibility were more mixed, with a majority agreeing but a notable portion expressing skepticism about whether taxpayer money was being spent wisely.

When presented with individual projects, voters showed the strongest support for a new park irrigation system and smaller combined park improvements, both of which earned comfortable majorities. Mid-tier projects like Belleview Park improvements, Miller Park, and the Belleview Farm area also garnered majority support, though enthusiasm was somewhat lower. The Englewood Recreation Center and Pirates Cove Water Park improvements, which carried the highest price tags, were the most divisive, with voters nearly evenly split.

In terms of overall priority rankings, residents consistently placed the irrigation system and smaller park improvements at the top. The Recreation Center and Pirates Cove improvements, despite their higher costs, still attracted meaningful top-tier rankings from a portion of respondents, while Miller Park and Little Dry Creek Plaza tended to rank toward the bottom.

When presented with a comprehensive bond measure covering all eight projects, just over half of respondents said they would vote to approve it. Among those who were undecided, a much larger share leaned toward approval than rejection, suggesting soft but potentially persuadable support for the measure.

Support for the bond measure increased when voters were informed that existing bonds from a 2001 measure were expiring at the end of the year, meaning the new mill levy would partially offset what residents had already been paying. This context made a majority of respondents more inclined to vote yes, indicating that framing the measure as a continuation rather than a new burden was an effective argument for proponents.