Kickoff Survey Results

En Español

To start the Vision Lynn planning process, we launched a survey with three simple questions: What do you love about Lynn? What concerns you about Lynn? And what is one thing you want your city government to fix? This is what we heard from the 906 people who responded in three different languages.

What You Love About Lynn

When asked “What do you love about Lynn?”, there were some clear favorites.

• Natural Resources (423 respondents) - Lynn Woods, the waterfront and beach, green spaces and Gannon Golf Course were all beloved resources.
• Diversity (361) - 40% of respondents mentioned Lynn’s diversity as a strength in their response.
• People & Community (201) - This category includes respondents who spoke about their social networks in Lynn, about the general inclusiveness and friendliness of Lynners, and the pride people feel in community. Another recurring theme, cited specifically by 29 respondents, was the sense that Lynners take care of each other in times of need.
• Convenience and Location (154) - Lynn’s proximity to the North Shore and Boston were commonly cited as assets.
• Arts, Culture & History (152) - Whether it was the historic architecture, music scene, or murals, many respondents cited Lynn’s cultural assets as something they loved.
• Business and Restaurants (115) - The unique businesses and particularly the food scene were often-cited favorites.

Concerns and One Thing to Fix

Many respondents had similar responses when asked “What are your concerns about Lynn?”

• Schools (294) - Schools, particularly the state of school buildings and uncompetitive wages for teachers, was a top concern.
• Safety & Crime (292) - There were many concerns related to crime and safety, including violence, drug trafficking and addiction, unsafe driving, and noise concerns.
• Infrastructure (209) - Respondents were adamant about the need to improve the roads, fix the water and sewer system to clean up King’s Beach, and invest in public spaces and parks.
• Housing & Development (203) - Many respondents discussed housing and development. Many respondents in this category were concerned about rising housing costs and gentrification or expressed a desire for more affordable housing. Some, in contrast, wanted gentrification. Others talked about concerns regarding development more broadly--that there were areas not being developed or being developed inappropriately, that development was not adequately benefiting the community, or that development was not happening in coordination with adequate planning regarding traffic or schools.
• Trash & Litter (167) - Respondents talked about issues with cleanliness, including trash and litter, street sweeping, and general beautification.
• City Government (106) - Respondents felt frustration about local governance. Some had specific areas of concern (perceived lack of enforcement for laws, poor management of parks, or giving developers too much power) or spoke generally about a lack of communication or transparency. Many expressed the feeling that the government does not seem to reflect the community, either in terms of acting on the will of the community or in terms of demographics. (Note: the survey was open from September 2021 through April 2022, so this would have covered an election and an inauguration.)

When we asked respondents about what one thing they'd want the city government to fix, the biggest winners were schools (207), infrastructure (180), and city government (114).

Who Responded

Of the 906 people who responded, 96% responded in English while 3% responded in Spanish and 1% in Khmer. 97% of respondents had a home zip code in Lynn. We asked respondents to self-identify their race and ethnicity if they chose. Of the respondents who provided this information, 3% identified as being Asian or Asian-American, 5% identified as being Black or African-American, and 5% identified as being multi-racial. 11% of all respondents who shared demographic information identified as Latino/a/x or Hispanic.

Next Steps

We tried to distill what we heard in this survey into a variety of vision statements that could be used to set the priorities for the Vision Lynn plan. Now, we're asking people to weigh in on whether we got it right!

• Take the Survey Online (English or Spanish)
• Take the Survey by Text (Coming Soon in Arabic, English, Khmer, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese)
• Visit our boards around the community or at an upcoming event.

This "Listening Tour" will continue through June, when we anticipate that we'll have our first major public meeting.