Life is good in Red Deer.
For the second year in a row, 98 per cent of respondents to the city’s Citizen Satisfaction Survey felt the quality of life was either very good (35 per cent) or good (63 per cent) in Red Deer.
The annual survey has been conducted every year since 2006.
It allows the city to measure resident satisfaction with services, operations and value for tax dollars.
“Generally speaking our citizens have indicated they are satisfied with life in Red Deer,” said Mayor Tara Veer.
Of the 300 surveyed, 22 per cent felt the quality of life has improved in Red Deer over the last three years. They attributed it to more job opportunities (16 per cent), better roads (12 per cent) and economic development and more local businesses (10 per cent).
Once again residents felt transportation municipal government services and crime were the top issues that they want the city to address over the next year.
Transportation remained the same at 43 per cent in 2015, municipal government services improved to 31 per cent from 46 per cent, and crime improved slightly to 31 per cent from 32 per cent.
Veer said this suggests council is placing priority on issues that are important to residents but there is still work to do.
A big change in this year’s survey was the inclusion of cellphone users. The survey was conducted over the phone by Ipsos Reid between May 8 and May 28.
Between 10 to 20 per cent of the calls were made to cellphone users.
“Red Deer is one of the youngest populations in Canada,” said Veer. “Because Red Deer is such a young population, we flagged the need to include cellphone users in the annual survey.”
Veer said the city can see some minor shifts in results with the inclusion that may be linked to demographics, particularly in the area of transportation methods.
Respondents were asked how they traveled around the city. Bicycle users increased to 29 per cent from 12 per cent in 2014.
The survey is usually conducted in the spring to the tune of $20,000.
A second survey will be conducted in the fall to determine if the timing of the survey affects the results.
Veer said often with surveys the public will respond to the issues of the day. She said the issues in the spring versus the issues in the winter are very different.
“Potholes and snow removals are quick examples that come to mind,” said Veer. “If we do a survey in the spring, people will identify potholes and roadway conditions. In the winter they will identify snow removal. We thought it was important to get a full spectrum. We are a four-season city and it is important that we responsive to the needs of our citizens throughout the year. ”
Survey Hightlights:
l Overall satisfaction with city services: 92 per cent of respondents were either somewhat (60 per cent) or very (32 per cent) satisfied compared to 95 per cent in 2014.
l 87 per cent of the respondents were satisfied with the way the city was run.
l Residents think council is doing a good job of running the city: 84 per cent were either somewhat (70 per cent) or very (14 per cent) satisfied.
l Respondents were 89 per cent very/somewhat satisfied with police services in 2015 compared to 85 per cent in 2006.
l Satisfaction with snow removal in Red Deer improved to 60 per cent in 2015 compared to 45 per cent in 2014 and 61 per cent in 2013.
l The value for tax dollars continue to get high marks from respondents. Residents felt they got either very good (16 per cent) or fairly good (67 per cent) value for tax dollars.
l Top three words used to describe Red Deer: friendly/courteous (19 per cent); good city to live in (17 per cent) and beautiful (14 per cent).
l Preferred method of communication? Newspapers led the way with 25 per cent, followed by mail at 23 per cent and city website at 20 per cent.
Full survey results are available at www.reddeer.ca.
crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com