People Love Troy. They Just Don't Think It's Going Anywhere

Vol. III, No. 306 - Looking at Our Last Community Survey

Troy is a city people are happy to call home.

Ask residents how they feel about living here and the answer is almost always positive. In last month’s Civic Capacity survey, 93 percent of Troy residents said they either love or like their community. That number has been above 80 percent in every single survey we have run since July 2023.

That is not a small thing. People have deep roots here. They care about the neighborhoods, the schools, the parks, the people next door. Troy is not a city people are looking to leave.

But ask those same residents which direction Troy is heading, and the answer changes quickly.

In that same survey last month, 47 percent said Troy is going in the wrong direction. Only 24 percent said it is on the right track. The rest were unsure. That gap between loving a place and trusting where it is headed has shown up in every survey that has been released over the past three years.

This is not a new problem. It is a pattern.

In July 2023, the wrong direction number was 34 percent. It climbed to 70 percent by September 2024. It has stayed elevated ever since. The right track number peaked at 45 percent in that very first survey and has not come close to that mark again. Last month, just one in four residents believes the city is moving in the right direction.

What does that tell us?

It tells us that residents are watching. They are not checked out. They are paying attention to what is happening around them — to decisions being made at city hall, to projects being announced without much explanation, to changes that affect their daily lives. And a growing share of them do not feel good about the direction of those decisions.

Our survey also asks residents how aware they are of local government and community affairs. Last month, 69 percent said they are extremely or very aware of what is happening in Troy. That number has been above 60 percent in every survey period. These are informed residents. They are not reacting out of ignorance. They are reacting out of knowledge.

There is a term for this kind of disconnect. When people love where they live but lose confidence in where it is headed, civic trust erodes. Not all at once. Slowly. Quietly. Until the people who care most start to disengage.

Troy has not reached that point. Not yet. But the signs are worth taking seriously.

The question worth asking right now is a simple one: what would it take to close that gap? Not just with a statement or a press release, but with the kind of transparency and open decision-making that earns trust back over time.

That is not a question aimed at any one official or any one decision. It is a question for the entire community — residents, leaders, and everyone in between.

At Civic Capacity, we run this survey every other month because we believe the mood of a community is data worth tracking. Numbers do not tell you everything. But they tell you something. And right now, they are telling us that Troy residents love this city too much to stop paying attention.

That matters. It means there is still something to build on.

This is what it looks like when residents stay informed. If you find value in this work, share it with a neighbor, a colleague, or anyone who cares about this community. Paid subscriptions keep it going — $5 a month.

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