Quote of the Day: "The key is we've got to get out of this parochial mind-set."

-- Councilwoman Sharon Wolcott, City of Surprise, Arizona

It turns out that there is an instrument called the National Citizens Survey, developed in association with the International City/County Management Association, that communities can use to measure citizen perception of the quality of life within their communities, conducting a needs assessment. And they can compare the results to other communities.

The Arizona Republic has a story "Survey: Surprise residents want better transit, more retail" on the results in Surprise.