HAYDEN — Many Hayden residents don’t want growth.

They’ve been saying it in public comments to Hayden City Council members, they’ve been talking about it with their neighbors and, now, they’ve had it verified in a citywide survey through OnPointe Insights.

The survey was sent to residents through May, and has received 1,179 valid responses. Results were presented Tuesday to the council.

“That gives you a really good statistical margin for error, plus or minus 2.8% for anything you see,” OnPointe founder Ron Gailey said. “You have plenty of good data.”

Of the 1,179 respondents, 68% believe Hayden is growing too fast while 31% think it’s growing at a healthy rate.

Growth wasn’t the only insight from the survey, which asked how residents feel about their city, what they would prioritize, which traffic intersections are most important and where Hayden is going as a city.

“Look, your quality of life ratings are really quite good,” Gailey said.

Overall, citizens ranked the quality of life in Hayden high, valued Hayden’s sense of community and felt strongly that their neighborhood was a good place to live.

“Safety is very important and, by the way, you’re doing very well,” Gailey said. “So you’re able to see importance and performance.”

Results from the survey can be filtered by specific demographics to understand which people tend to care about which things based on age, sex, time in the city or other factors.

For example, growth is important to many Hayden residents, but less important to people who have lived in the city for four years or less. People who have lived in Hayden for less time are less likely to feel the city is moving in the wrong direction. And three-quarters of the people who have lived in the city for more than 10 years think it’s growing too fast.

“I know in my own city, the people who have moved here don’t want anyone else to move here,” Gailey said. “So we see a ‘Stop now that I’m here,’ kind of feeling. And also the old-timers have lost quite a few things that they’ve loved.”

The things people love in Hayden, according to the survey, are a small-town feel, a neighborly feel through the city and the scenery.

The survey also identified some areas people would like to see improved. There is a desire to see city resources directed toward Honeysuckle Beach or gathering spaces developed around City Hall. People were also open to the idea of developing a community center, which could include resources for senior activities.

People’s thoughts on housing reflect a priority on single-family homes, support for mixed-housing availability and an aversion to any mobile home parks.

“There’s a lot of people who say, ‘Boy I’d really hate to lose the open space around here,’ and that the city should only allow housing on single-family lots,” Gailey said. “On the other hand, we have a pretty good variety of people who support a variety of housing types.”

Traffic also floated to the top as a major priority, with intersections identified in the survey that need to be updated. Improvements at the Hayden Avenue/Ramsey Road intersection and the intersection of Honeysuckle Avenue and Ramsey were equally important to residents, with Honeysuckle/Government Way trailing close behind.

With those clear priorities outlined from the community, the City Council and staff can use that information to decide where to direct city resources and when.

"When we initiated this, I know that my purpose behind it was to gather a lot of information, that I think that we got," Councilman Ed DePriest said. "And to lead us to taking action on the input that we get. The issues that we saw are no surprise."

DePriest suggested the council review and tweak the Future Land Use map based on the survey results and feedback. The city's future land use map is used for city planning.

“When you get citizen feedback, in some respects you just have to keep in mind we’re going to a broad base of citizens,” Gailey said. “You need to not take offense at things and read it and keep it in mind … But it is really helpful. This is a broad look at people across the city and it’s quite representative, I’m sure.”

The data from the survey can be viewed on the city’s website, cityofhaydenid.us.

This story has been updated to reflect a correction.