Residents of Banff not only live in one of the most beautiful places in the country, they are pretty darn happy to be doing so.
With nearly all, or 99 per cent, of citizens rating the overall quality of life in Banff today as very good or good, residents who live in Banff are significantly more satisfied than other communities in Canada.
Jamie Duncan from Ipsos Reid presented the findings of the 2013 Citizen Satisfaction Survey to council on Monday (Feb. 10), noting Banff outperforms the average satisfaction rating by 19 points.
The company assesses 55 municipalities across Canada on an annual basis to assess views and perceptions of citizens.
The results were well received by council with Mayor Karen Sorensen remarking that as locally elected officials, council often does not hear positive feedback.
“It is rewarding to see and we appreciate the feedback,” she said. “I think it gives us an accurate and different perception than we may hear every day.”
The Ipsos Reid survey went further than measuring overall satisfaction and asked citizens to identify the biggest issues they see facing the community and whether the quality of life has changed over the past three years.
Duncan said social issues were identified as the most important thing facing the community, according to 36 per cent of respondents, with lack of affordable housing clearly top of mind for survey respondents. He added education and the closure of the obstetrics ward at Mineral Springs Hospital were also mentioned.
Transportation issues represented 30 per cent with improving parking and a lack of parking spaces as the No. 1 item identified. The economy was the third highest issue identified, at 14 per cent, and Duncan said respondents pointed to tourism and attracting visitors as an issue.
While half of survey respondents, 55 per cent, felt the quality of life in Banff has stayed the same over the past three years, a notable minority of 12 per cent feel it has worsened and 19 per cent feel it has improved.
Among those who feel things have declined in the resort town, 19 per cent identified that too many special events are taking place in the community as the reason, while 11 per cent identified poor housing options and high cost of rent as the issue.
Duncan also went over the survey’s findings with respect to overall level and quality of municipal services and satisfaction with specific services and programs. While the specific programs varied markedly, Duncan noted 90 per cent of Banff residents said they are satisfied with the overall level and quality of programs.
“The core takeaway from this is everything you do is important to people,” he said. “Virtually everything we tested is important to individuals, which is not unique to the Town of Banff.”
Specifically, quality of water rated as a top service (91 per cent very satisfied – seven per cent somewhat satisfied) followed by fire services (79 per cent and 17 per cent), parks, trails and other green spaces (62 per cent and 32 per cent), recreational and cultural programs (42 per cent and 52 per cent), police services (59 per cent and 34 per cent), public transit (56 per cent and 36 per cent) and garbage (62 per cent very satisfied, 29 per cent somewhat satisfied).
When it came to perceived value of tax dollars, 29 per cent said they received very good value, 55 per cent fairly good value and 13 per cent fairly poor value.
Duncan also detailed how residents preferred to be communicated with – and local newspapers were No. 1 at 45 per cent, followed by 26 per cent by email, 20 per cent through the Town’s website and 16 per cent through social media.
He noted Banff is a highly engaged community and “three quarters of individuals who had contact with front line staff in the last 12 months were very satisfied with that experience, which is 12 points higher than we see in other communities.”
The telephone survey was conducted with a randomly selected sample of 356 residents aged 18 years or older between Oct. 29 and Nov. 15. The results are considered accurate plus or minus 5.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Duncan added as part of the research, Ipsos dialed both landline and cellphone numbers. In total, 273 interviews were conducted by landline and 83 by cellphone. An additional 120 residents completed an online survey.
