By Troy Gillard (Twitter: @Troy_Gillard)

Increasing number feel quality of life worsening in Red Deer: Survey

Jul 26, 2018 | 1:08 PM

While nine out of 10 Red Deerians are happy with their quality of life, an increasing number feel it’s trending in the wrong direction.

Results from the 2018 Citizen Satisfaction Survey conducted by The City of Red Deer show 36 percent of respondents feel their quality of life has worsened over the past year. Forty-five percent feel their quality of life has stayed the same while 17 per cent say it has improved.

More than half, 54 per cent, mentioned crime as the main reason why quality of life has worsened. Drug use/abuse was cited by 20 per cent while 14 per cent blamed the poor economy.

Overall, 93 per cent of Red Deerians rate the quality of life in Red Deer as very good or good, down slightly from 97 per cent last year.

“It’s encouraging to see that once again the overwhelming majority of citizens continue to enjoy life in our community,” said City Manager Craig Curtis.

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This year’s survey showed 85 per cent of respondents were satisfied with the value they are getting for their tax dollar. Ninety-two per cent were happy with the overall quality of city services.

When it comes to how the city is being run, 86 per cent say are very/somewhat satisfied with the work being done by city council and administration as a whole.

The top three priorities respondents want The City of Red Deer to address over the next 12 months are crime (48%), transportation (35%) and municipal government services (26%).

“It is evident that crime and public safety continue to be the number one priority of Red Deerians, so it will, by necessity, need to remain the top priority for our City Council’s agenda to address the concerns of our citizens,” said Mayor Tara Veer.

The Citizen Satisfaction Survey was conducted over the phone by Ipsos between May 29 and June 4, with a randomly selected sample of 300 Red Deer residents aged 18 years or older; 30 per cent of calls were made to cell phones. The margin of error is +/-5.7%, 19 times out of 20.

Full survey results are available here.

Mayor Tara Veer comments on the results from the 2018 Citizen Satisfaction Survey

City Manager Craig Curtis