CommunityScale designs and deploys community housing surveys to capture resident experience, preferences, and priorities at scale. Surveys complement the quantitative analysis from Census, CoStar, HUD, and Zillow with lived experience and forward-looking preferences, the two pieces of information that don’t come from administrative data. Every survey is methodologically transparent: the instrument, recruitment, response counts, and analysis approach are documented in the deliverable so findings are defensible at public meetings and in adoption hearings.

Instrument design covers housing experience, preferences across tenure and type, affordability trade-offs, and barriers to moving or staying, with community-specific questions co-developed with the client. Deployment is online-first and mobile-optimized with in-person backup at public meetings and workshops. Analysis includes cross-tabulation against demographic forecasts, qualitative coding of open-ended responses, and integration with the project dashboard.

Projects featuring community surveys:

• Upper Arlington, OH: 700+ response online housing survey
• Malden, MA MBTA Communities zoning
• Lynn, MA rezoning
• Apex, NC housing plan update

Related reading:

• An empirical approach to quantifying and modeling housing preferences
• How to measure market demand with targeted housing market analysis
• Three phases of local housing action