Fairfax County Parks recently completed a survey of county residents' opinions on county parks, and park and recreation needs.  It included 15,000 households, and is statistically accurate to a 95% confidence level, with a margin of error of +/- 1.4%.

Among the key findings:

The most important expressed need is for walking and biking trails - "paved trails" is #1 ahead of large regional parks (#2) and small community parks (#3).  "Unpaved walking/biking trails" is #4 in terms of expressed need.

This mirrors the results of GFCA surveys, in which 70%+ of local resident are in favor or strongly in favor of trails/paths that can be used to walk or bike from neighborhoods to local points of interest such as schools, parks, and the Village.

The county survey will be used to inform the 10-year Park Capital Improvement Plan, and to prioritize capital projects for Park Bond Referenda in 2016 and 2020.  This creates an opportunity for Great Falls to obtain funding for our local trails and paths.

The survey fact sheet can be viewed here

The survey presentation is here

The county webpage on the survey project is here