Most Salt Lake City residents want to see Pioneer Park become a more welcoming place, according to a study released Thursday.

A whopping 78 percent of surveyed residents said the downtown park should be renovated, including 51 percent who said it definitely should, according to a Dan Jones & Associates study commissioned by the city.

"There's always been enormous (public) support for major renovations at Pioneer Park," Mayor Rocky Anderson said.

The survey also tried to gauge Salt Lake City residents' support for specific improvements, all of which were included in Anderson's $4 million plan to renovate the park. The Salt Lake City Council approved $1.3 million for park upgrades during the most recent budget cycle.

Of the seven choices, residents voiced strongest support for enhanced landscaping and a running and walking track (each with 76 percent) and a new, larger children's play park (74 percent).

A little more than half of the surveyed residents support adding a small cafe and warming hut (58 percent), a fenced off-leash dog area (55 percent) and a stage for concerts and plays (54 percent).

The remaining option, an ice skating rink, received the least support, with just 34 percent saying it should be built.

"I hope that someday we'll see a large ice skating rink with lights at night, music, a warming hut and cafe during the winter months," Anderson said. "I think that's the only way we can make sure that park is activated and put to its best use 12 months of the year."

Dan Jones & Associates conducted telephone interviews of 706 Salt Lake City residents in May for the survey, which has a 3.75 percent margin of error. It's the seventh such survey commissioned by Salt Lake City since 1994.

Overall, Salt Lake City residents give high marks to quality of life in the city, city services and safety.

"We're thrilled with the results," Anderson said. "There's been a very positive trend for the past several years in terms of overall satisfaction by residents of city services and also the perception of safety in the community."

Residents' top concerns, according to the study, are growth and overpopulation, which was mentioned by 13 percent of respondents; and pollution, air quality and the environment, 9 percent.

The number of residents concerned about crime and violence is about 8 percent or one in 12 respondents. That figure is down from approximately one in 10 from surveys in 1998 and 2001, and it's significantly less than the one-in-four rate in 1994 and 1996, according to the survey.

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