Good news regarding value in Queens via the 2012 MAS Survey on Livability

Image source: MAS

Thursday morning heralded the release of the 2012 MAS Survey on Livability (warning: pdf), which has some good news for Queens. MAS is the Municipal Art Society, and the survey was conducted by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, funded by The Rockefeller Foundation. The methodology of the survey is as follows:

1,324 New York City residents was conducted by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion from August 28th through August 31st, 2012. Residents 18 years of age and older were interviewed by telephone.

The margin of error is +/- 3 points.

Here are some Queens-oriented findings that we found particularly interesting:

• New or improved transportation services are most important to Queens residents (33% vs Manhattan at 16%)
• When it comes to the best place to live, Manhattan rules (28%) but Queens is right behind it (25%), just beating out Brooklyn (24%). This was a result of the questions regarding the superlatives for their borough – friendliest, affordability, best for families.
• Queens leads when it comes to best value for the money (25%). Then comes Manhattan (24%) and Brooklyn (18%).
• Optimism ratings changed a bit since last year – Queens had the most optimistic ratings last year, and has fallen to number three. But it’s really not that far away from Manhattan (87%) and Brooklyn (85%) at 80%.

We also found it interesting that 67% of New Yorkers (67%) think that there is a good mix of older buildings and new development, when it comes to real estate.

MAS Releases Third Annual MAS Survey on Livability [Municipal Art Society]