Denver voters are evenly divided over whether the city is headed in the right direction or is on the wrong track, according to a poll released Tuesday by a new nonprofit that aims to provide nonpartisan public opinion research.

The survey conducted by the Colorado Polling Institute found that 44% of likely voters think Denver is generally moving the right way, while 44% say things are going in the wrong direction, with about 13% unsure.

Homelessness and housing affordability top the list of priorities voters said the city needs to address, followed by crime and public safety and the cost of living.

The poll found that more than two-thirds of those surveyed said they feel safe in Denver, and about the same share of voters support the city’s homeless encampment sweeps.

In addition, nearly two-thirds of voters support reducing the number of terms the city’s elected officials can serve from three to two. The voters who have an opinion on ranked-choice voting support the voting method by roughly two-to-one for municipal elections.

Conducted jointly by Democratic polling firm Aspect Strategic and Republican pollster Cygnal, the poll surveyed 414 likely 2024 general election voters in Denver on Aug. 17 and 18 using live calls and text-to-web questionnaires. Its margin of error is plus-or-minus 4.72%.

Pollsters noted that the survey’s results differ somewhat from other recent polling in Denver because the sample included likely voters in next year’s fall election, rather than likely voters in this spring’s municipal election, which was a much smaller group.

Colorado Poling Institute was founded by entrepreneurial investor David Carlson. Its advisory board members are TeRay Esquibel, the founder of a nonprofit that organizes Denver Public Schools alumni; former Denver City Councilwoman Kendra Black; Republican political consultant Tyler Sandberg; and Democratic political consultant Curtis Hubbard.

The nonprofit plans to conduct additional polling in coming weeks, Carlson said, and intends to provide “relevant, actionable, nonpartisan public opinion research on issues in Denver and across the state we love.”

Addressing homeless was called a priority by 51% of those surveyed and was the leading issue for most groups of voters, only slipping to second place behind housing affordability among voters age 18-29. Overall, 41% listed housing affordability, with 34% identifying crime and public safety as a top municipal concern and 32% picking cost of living. None of the other options – from traffic and road quality to climate and the environment – broke out of single digits.

Newly elected Mayor Mike Johnston, who took office in July with a pledge to end homelessness in his first term, is viewed favorably by 46% of voters and unfavorably by 22%, though 28% had no opinion and 3.5% were unfamiliar with him.

Johnston’s homelessness plans get positive marks from 34% of voters and negative marks from 20%, though 41% haven’t formed an opinion.

“It is noteworthy that voters’ top concerns revolve around the city’s housing challenges,” said Aspect Strategic pollster Kevin Ingham. “The mayor made homelessness a central issue in his campaign, and voters clearly support that priority. Yet, many are feeling burdened by their own housing costs and these results indicate they want the city to approach the housing issue with a wide angle lens.”

The cost of housing puts a financial strain on 65% of voters, the pollsters found, with 88% of renters saying housing costs are responsible for “some” or “significant” financial strain.

Voters said they’re more pessimistic than optimistic about the progress being made to revitalize Denver’s downtown, with 45% giving thumbs down and 30% saying they think things are going well.

“As we saw in polling during the mayoral election earlier this year, Denverites are strongly in favor of forcefully addressing the homelessness issue,” Cygnal’s Brent Buchanan said. “The fact that homelessness is still the top issue by far could be the reason voters are pessimistic about the progress being made on downtown Denver’s recovery.”

The poll also asked voters to rate other Denver institutions.

Denver City Council was viewed favorably by 38% and unfavorably by 34%, with the remainder having no opinion or saying they’d never heard of the institution.

Voter opinion was also split over the Denver Police Department, with 51% expressing a favorable view and 43% an unfavorable view.

Denver International Airport, however, is broadly popular, with 71% holding a favorable view and 23% an unfavorable one.

The Regional Transportation District also was in solidly positive territory, with 55% favorable and 30% unfavorable.

The election-related questions found that 63% of voters prefer tightening term limits for municipal officeholders – including the mayor, auditor, clerk nd recorder and city council members – from the current three consecutive terms they can serve to two consecutive terms. Reducing the allowed number of terms is opposed by 18% of voters, and 15% said they neither support nor oppose the move.

A solid plurality of voters supports using ranked-choice voting to conduct municipal elections, with 48% in favor of the plan and 24% opposed, though a sizable share of voters are undecided or don’t have an opinion.

Under the proposal, instead of holding a general election and then a run-off election between the first round’s top two vote-getters, voters would be able to rank candidates in order of preference, with the lowest-ranked candidates being eliminated until one candidate receives a majority of the votes.