Best questions for citizen survey about neighborhood safety

Here are some of the best questions for a citizen survey about neighborhood safety, and tips on how to create them. We know how important these questions are—and with Specific, you can generate a tailored survey in seconds. Try to build your own citizen survey about neighborhood safety quickly and easily.

Best open-ended questions for neighborhood safety surveys

Open-ended questions let us hear directly from citizens in their own words and uncover perspectives we might otherwise miss. While nonresponse rates can be higher—open-ends in surveys can reach nonresponse rates of up to 50% vs. just 1-2% for closed-ends [1]—the insights gained are well worth it. For example, in a Danish study, 80.7% of municipal managers found written comments from open-ended survey questions useful for quality improvement [2]. The benefits are clear when you want depth over just numbers.

Here are ten of the best open-ended questions to spark richer conversations in your survey:

1. What is your biggest concern regarding safety in your neighborhood?

2. Can you describe a recent situation where you felt unsafe in your community?

3. What do you think could be improved to make your neighborhood feel safer?

4. Are there specific locations in your area where safety is a particular concern?

5. How do you feel about the presence and visibility of local law enforcement?

6. Have you participated in any neighborhood safety initiatives or community meetings? Please share your experience.

7. In your opinion, how well does the local government communicate about safety issues?

8. Are there enough streetlights or other safety features in your neighborhood?

9. What advice would you give local leaders to help improve safety in your area?

10. Is there anything else you’d like to share about feeling safe—or unsafe—in your neighborhood?

Keep in mind that while these questions invite detailed feedback, too many open-ends in a survey can decrease completion rates. For instance, surveys with 10 open-ended questions see completion rates around 78% versus 88% when there's only one open-ended question [3]. The trick is to balance depth with respondent engagement.

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for neighborhood safety

Single-select multiple-choice questions shine when you need clear, quantifiable data or want to make it easy for citizens to engage quickly—sometimes it’s easier to pick from a list than write a paragraph. These questions also serve as conversation starters, which we can deepen with follow-up open-ended probing if helpful. Combining question types provides the most complete view—closed-ended questions give us the numbers, open-ended ones reveal the "why" behind the numbers [5].

Question: How safe do you feel walking in your neighborhood during the day?

• Very safe

• Somewhat safe

• Not very safe

• Not at all safe

Question: Which safety issues are you most concerned about in your area?

• Theft or burglary

• Vandalism

• Traffic accidents

• Violent crime

• Other

Question: How would you rate communication from local authorities about neighborhood safety?

• Excellent

• Good

• Fair

• Poor

When to followup with "why?" We use a "why" follow-up when someone picks an option, but we want to dig deeper into their reasoning. For example, after someone selects "Not very safe" when asked about walking in the neighborhood, followup with: "Can you tell us more about what makes you feel that way?" That’s where the real insights come out.

When and why to add the "Other" choice? "Other" matters when we don’t want to miss any unlisted concerns. Follow-up questions—like "Can you describe the 'other' concern you have?"—often reveal patterns or issues we never would have considered without leaving space for unexpected answers.

NPS question for neighborhood safety: does it fit?

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a proven question format for more than products and services—it also works in citizen sentiment surveys. Asking "How likely are you to recommend your neighborhood as a safe place to live to friends or family?" on a 0-10 scale gives a quick read on overall safety perception and creates an anchor to track progress over time. It’s a great way to benchmark progress and even segment responses for followup probing. Want one for your next survey? Here’s an NPS survey template for citizen feedback on neighborhood safety.

The power of follow-up questions

Follow-up questions can truly transform our data quality. Studies show that dynamic, real-time follow-ups elicit longer responses with more actionable themes than static question designs [4]. At Specific, we use AI to prompt intelligent follow-ups right after someone replies, probing deeper just like an experienced researcher. This saves teams hours of back-and-forth over email and gets us closer to what citizens really think. Learn more in our article on automatic follow-up questions.

Here’s what happens without follow-ups versus with:

• Citizen: "I don’t feel very safe at night."

• AI follow-up: "What situations or locations make you feel less safe at night?"

How many followups to ask? Generally, two or three smart follow-up questions are enough. Specific gives you precise control over this—and always lets people skip to the next topic if they’ve shared all that’s needed. It keeps surveys smooth and respondent-friendly.

This makes it a conversational survey: Every exchange flows like a natural conversation, building trust and encouraging honest feedback.

AI survey response analysis: Even with lots of open-ended and follow-up responses, our AI makes it simple to analyze everything—summarizing and organizing feedback instantly. Check out our guide to AI-powered survey analysis for how this works.

These automated follow-up questions are a step beyond traditional surveys—try generating a survey with Specific to see how it elevates your feedback process.

How to craft prompts for GPT for better survey questions

The fastest way to get quality survey questions from AI is with clear, focused prompts. Here’s an example starter prompt for citizen surveys about neighborhood safety:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for citizen survey about neighborhood safety.

AI works better with more context. For instance, if you tell it about your neighborhood, your audience, and your goal, you get much richer questions—for example:

We are gathering feedback from citizens aged 25–65 living in an urban neighborhood. Our goal is to understand both their safety concerns and ideas for improvement. Suggest 10 open-ended questions for a citizen survey about neighborhood safety with this in mind.

Once you’ve gathered questions, you can make sense of them quickly by categorizing:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

Now, pick the categories you want to focus on and prompt again:

Generate 10 questions for the category "communication with local authorities".

This layered approach gives you deeper, more tailored survey content every time.

What is a conversational survey?

Conversational surveys swap rigid web forms for a chat-like, dynamic flow. The AI guides respondents, clarifies, and adapts in real time. Unlike static surveys, conversations feel more natural and encourage fuller, more honest participation. See our guide on how to create a survey with Specific for more practical tips.

Why use AI for citizen surveys? AI survey generators transform feedback into an engaging dialogue, improve data quality, and let us iterate in real time. Whether you need an AI survey example or want to try a new approach, tools like Specific’s AI survey generator unlock powerful, seamless survey experiences for teams and citizens alike. Our platform leads in user experience, keeping the process smooth and engaging for everyone involved.

See this neighborhood safety survey example now

Ready to unlock richer insights from your community? See how a conversational survey can reveal more, keep response rates high, and make the whole experience frictionless for you and your respondents. Create your own citizen survey about neighborhood safety with Specific: fast, insightful, and interactive—giving you the insights you need to make safer neighborhoods a reality.