Every other year, the City of Lake Oswego gathers resident feedback to better understand what’s working well — and where thoughtful improvements can be made. The 2025 Lake Oswego Resident Survey Findings Report offers valuable insight into how residents experience daily life here, and the results reinforce what many locals already know: Lake Oswego continues to offer an exceptional quality of life.

Here are some of the most meaningful takeaways — and what they say about living in Lake Oswego today.

A Strong Sense of Community & Belonging

One of the clearest messages from the report is that residents feel deeply connected to Lake Oswego. People consistently cite a strong sense of community, safety, and pride of place as reasons they choose to live here.

Residents report high satisfaction with:

• Neighborhood livability
• Overall quality of life
• Feeling safe walking in their neighborhoods
• Community engagement and civic involvement

These findings gain even more significance when compared to the national and Northwest Regional averages:

• Overall feeling of safety – LO 96%, NW 52%; National 57%
• Overall quality of life – LO 95%; NW 50%, National $55%
• As a place to raise children: LO 95%, NW 52%, National 57%
• Quality of parks’ properties and facilities: LO 91%, NW 49%, National 48          

This sense of safety and community is a key reason Lake Oswego remains attractive not just to new buyers, but to long-term homeowners who choose to stay.

Access to Nature, Parks, and Outdoor Spaces

Lake Oswego’s commitment to green space continues to shine. The report highlights very high satisfaction with parks, trails, and access to outdoor recreation.

Residents value:

• Overall quality of natural resources including streams, wetlands and urban forests (86%)
• Quality of parks’ properties and facilities (91%)
• Recreation activities, events and services (88%)

This connection to nature — especially in a region where outdoor living is part of daily life — plays a major role in why people feel grounded and refreshed here year-round.

Library Services Are Valued and Varied

The findings show that residents care deeply about the services their library provides and realize what an asset their particular library is to the quality of life in Lake Oswego.

People appreciate:

• The opportunities for education and lifelong learning (81%)
• The quality of events and services for children (79%)
• The role the library plays as a leader and innovator adapting to community needs (71%)

From programming to technology, residents appreciate and take advantage of all the Lake Oswego Public Library has to offer and realize it casts a wide net to service everyone from toddlers to senior citizens.

One of the most encouraging signals in the 2025 Lake Oswego Resident Survey Report is not just how satisfied residents are, but how engaged and thoughtful they are about the city’s future. When a community is doing well, conversations naturally shift from “What’s broken?” to “How can we do this even better?” Here are a few areas where residents see room for improvement.

Thoughtful Housing Balance

Lake Oswego is a community where residents would like to raise their children in, retire in, and move their support system to. Its attractiveness also makes housing more expensive which is why 67% report finding it difficult/very difficult to have their support system move here; 48% indicating difficulty moving to another home in Lake Oswego, 46% finding it difficult to relocate to a larger home in Lake Oswego to fit their needs, 42% experiencing that same difficulty finding a place to downsize in and 31% saying they are having a hard time affording to stay or age in place in their current home. As a result, respondents indicated that city leaders should emphasize these items over the next two years:

• Quality of new development (47%)
• Planning for needed housing (44%)
• Variety of housing options (39%)
• Ease of getting a permit to remodel or add on (35%)

Economic Development, Development Services, Sustainability and Equity

Another encouraging takeaway is the level of civic engagement reflected in the report. Residents are informed, opinionated, and invested in the future of their city — a sign of a healthy, stable community. That’s why they identified the areas of economic development, development services, sustainability and equity as some of the top priorities leaders should address in the future.

What This Means for Homeowners and Buyers

Taken together, the 2025 Resident Survey Findings Report paints a clear picture: Lake Oswego remains a place people choose intentionally — and are proud to call home. Having reached a mature phase of growth, residents feel secure enough to focus on refinement rather than repair.

For homeowners, this reinforces long-term stability and desirability. For buyers, it confirms that Lake Oswego offers more than a house — it offers a lifestyle rooted in community, nature, and thoughtful living.

If you’re considering making a move within Lake Oswego or exploring what different neighborhoods have to offer, understanding how residents experience life here can be just as important as square footage or price.

As always, we’re happy to help answer questions — not just about homes, but about what it’s really like to live in this community.

Kevin Costello kevin.costello@cascadehasson.com 503.939.9801

Riley Costello riley.costello@cascadehasson.com 971.322.6205