Most residents feel safe in Denton and like the city services they receive, but they also think streets and rundown properties need more attention.

DRC/Barron Ludlum

City of Denton workers set the forms for new curbs along Headlee Street between Carroll Boulevard and Bolivar Street on Thursday.

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 Those were among the findings of a new city-commissioned survey that gauged residents’ views on everything from libraries to trash pickup. The City Council praised the results during a review this week, saying the city was already working to improve services that scored poorly.

 The University of North Texas Survey Research Center polled 800 adults in October and November using a random sample of listed telephone numbers.

 Among the findings:

 * Nearly nine in 10 residents rated the city’s quality of life as excellent or good and said they felt “safe and secure” living in Denton.

 * Fire and ambulance services enjoyed nearly universal approval, with more than 90 percent rating them as excellent or good. Eighty-eight percent rated police services that way.

 * More than 65 percent of residents rated street maintenance as fair or poor, and more than half said it’s hard to get around Denton because of construction, traffic, lack of roads or other factors.

 * About 42 percent rated code enforcement as fair or poor, as many complained about inconsistent enforcement and slow response times.

 * Libraries, parks and recreational centers and programs all ranked excellent or good with at least 87 percent of respondents, with libraries (96 percent) being especially well-liked.

 * One in four said Denton’s “small town/college town atmosphere” was the city’s best quality.

 Complaints over code enforcement have haunted the city for years, as older neighborhoods called for tougher action to prevent blight. In response, the city added code officers and is working to overhaul its property maintenance rules.

 “It was pretty clear during the campaign that there’s a general feeling that the city was looking worse than it looked before,” said Mayor Mark Burroughs, who was elected last June. “But at the same time, [there was] a genuine concern that too much enforcement could end up having unintended consequences and customer relations problems. So code enforcement has to be consistent.”

 Likewise, residents have complained for years about the state of city streets. A 2004 study found Denton’s overall street condition below the regional average, and a 2007 city report found that money devoted to streets was “significantly less than required” to properly maintain them.

 Since then, local and regional leaders have worked to inject more money into roads, said Mayor Pro Tem Pete Kamp, a member of the North Central Texas Council of Government’s Regional Transportation Council.

 “I think we’re already addressing the problems that our citizens have told us we have,” Kamp said.

 Denton’s last citywide survey took place in 2003. Officials say they now hope to administer one every two years to use for budget planning and monitoring public opinion trends.

 Researchers interviewed residents between Oct. 15 and Nov. 12. The margin of error was 3.5 percentage points.

 An Internet survey garnered another 254 responses. Those findings were reported separately whenever results differed from the telephone poll.

 LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com .