Some Maricopa households will soon find a City survey invitation in the mailbox. Everyone else has been promised a chance to participate—but the City has not yet published the open-survey link or a firm launch date.
The City announced the National Community Survey on October 16 as a way to measure quality of life and satisfaction with services including public safety, transportation, parks, recreation and community amenities. Randomly selected households will receive mailed invitations “over the next few weeks,” according to the announcement.
The City says the survey will open to the entire community “in the coming days.” As of OurMaricopa’s Sunday, October 19 research cutoff, the announcement did not list the public link, opening date or response deadline.
That does not mean most residents are excluded. It means the survey has two stages—and the details for stage two are still coming.
Why selected households hear first
The City describes the mailed portion as a statistically valid survey. A random sample is designed to create a more representative baseline than a link that is promoted publicly and completed only by people who choose to click it.
The later open survey serves a different purpose: it gives any resident a route to provide feedback, including people who were not selected for the mailed sample. The two sets of responses may be analyzed differently. The City’s announcement does not say exactly how it will combine or report them, so residents should not assume every response will be placed in one undifferentiated total.
The National Community Survey was developed by National Research Center at Polco. The City says Polco follows a privacy policy intended to keep responses confidential and protect personal data. Residents should still use only the invitation instructions or the official link the City eventually posts, rather than a copied link from an unverified account.
What the results could influence
This is broader than a satisfaction poll about one department. The City says the findings will help shape its upcoming strategic plan, compare Maricopa with communities across the country and establish benchmarks that can be tracked over time.
Topics named in the announcement reach into everyday life:
police, fire and other public-safety services;
transportation and how residents get around;
parks and recreation;
community amenities; and
residents’ overall view of quality of life.
The value comes from specificity. A resident who wants safer crossings, different recreation hours or better communication during a water emergency should describe the problem and its effect, rather than simply marking every service excellent or poor.
What residents should do now
If your household receives an invitation, follow the enclosed instructions and note any deadline or access code. Do not post a household-specific code publicly.
If you do not receive a letter, watch the City’s October 16 survey announcement for the communitywide link. OurMaricopa will also add the link when the City publishes it.
Before submitting, make a short list of the services you actually use and the places where you encounter problems. Concrete examples—an intersection, park, program or communication breakdown—are more useful than a general complaint with no location or context.
Residents with questions about the process can contact the City at communications@maricopa-az.gov. The announcement does not give a phone assistance option, translated-survey list or accessibility process, so anyone who needs those details should ask before the response window closes.
The missing details to watch
The City has launched the invitation phase but has not yet answered three practical questions for the general public:
On what date will the open survey begin?
What is the official link and deadline?
How will open responses be distinguished from the randomly sampled results?
Those details matter because an invitation arriving in one mailbox can look like privileged access when the broader phase has not yet opened. The City’s own announcement says all residents will get a chance. The next step is publishing enough information for everyone to use it.
Residents interested in transportation specifically can also review OurMaricopa’s transit-study survey guide, which covers a separate City and MAG survey available through November 9.
Sources
City of Maricopa, “City of Maricopa Seeks Input from Residents in Community-Wide Survey,” published October 16, 2026; accessed October 19, 2026: https://www.maricopa-az.gov/Maricopa-eNews/City-of-Maricopa-Seeks-Input-from-Residents-in-Community-Wide-Survey
Polco, “National Community Survey,” accessed October 19, 2026: https://info.polco.us/platform/benchmark-surveys/national-community-survey