2019 Citizenship Satisfaction Survey sees slightly worse year for Calgarians

Even the most liveable city in North America can have its critics.

The City of Calgary released the results of its most recent Citizenship Satisfaction Survey on Tuesday, finding that, while Calgarians are still pretty happy about the way things are being run out here in YYC, they’re a little less happy than they were in 2018.

The survey, which was conducted by Ipsos with a sample size of 2,502 randomly selected people who were contacted over the phone between August 19 and September 16, 2019, is an annual gauge of what the city should be focusing its efforts towards.

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“The Citizen Satisfaction Survey is an important tool for us. Calgarians remain satisfied with the services they’re receiving, and this data is critical for setting priorities as we head into our budget deliberations,” the release states.

Topmost on the list provided by the city is how Calgarian respondents perceived the quality of life in the city, which dropped by three points from 2018, going from 86% saying the quality of life is “good” down to 83%.

Along those same lines, 40% of respondents stated that the quality of life in Calgary has actually “worsened,” a sentiment only held by 29% of respondents one year earlier. 16% thought that quality had improved, six points lower than the 22% who thought the same in 2018.

35% believed that “infrastructure, traffic, and roads” needed the most attention from leaders, down 5% from last year, while transit was ranked second-most important (17%), and “crime, safety, and policing” was third (15%).

Only 54% of respondents gave the city a “good value” rating for the value they get back on property tax dollars, dropping off from 59% in 2018.

As for council and administration, this year’s survey saw an 8% drop in respondents who “believe that City Council and City Administration work collaboratively to make the best possible decisions for the future of Calgary,” going from 74% to 66%.

Full statistics from this year’s Citizenship Satisfaction Survey can be found at the City of Calgary’s website.