Most Dallas residents responding to a city-sponsored survey say they are pleased with the quality of life here and view the city as a good place to live and do business.

Dallas City Hall conducted similar surveys from 2005 through 2007 with generally positive responses about city services and life in Dallas.

This year, Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm said she was pleased that 62 percent of those answering the poll rated the quality of city services as excellent (10 percent) or good (52 percent).

In the last survey, 47 percent of respondents rated city services excellent or good, she said.

Suhm also noted that the survey's respondents were pleased with City Hall's customer service. Exactly 75 percent of respondents ranked the knowledge and courtesy of city employees as good or excellent.

"I don't think what you're seeing is any one thing. It's an organization that took a look at itself and changed the way it does business," Suhm said.

According to the responses, 72 percent said they feel safe walking through their neighborhoods during the day, but 61 percent feel safe walking through downtown during the same hours.

The city's biggest problems came as no surprise.

Those surveyed ranked drugs, crime, homelessness, traffic congestion and unsupervised youth as the most troubling issues facing Dallas.

As it has in years past, City Hall had some trouble getting residents to share their opinions.

The seven-page survey was mailed to 5,600 households. Ultimately, 1,646 households responded by mail or telephone. ETC Institute conducted the survey and said it has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.