The annual Citizen Satisfaction Survey conducted via telephone from Jan. 7 to 14 shows residents of Airdrie continue to be highly satisfied with their city despite an uncertain economy, according to Tracy With, vice president of Banister Research and Consulting, the firm responsible for conducting the survey.
“For overall quality of life, 96 per cent of our responses rated four or five out of five,” she said. “(Airdrie is) the highest of those that I measure, for that measure.
“In terms of all the surveys being conducted in the last seven to nine months, we are seeing an overlay of concern for the economy. When we look at the results it is important to note that almost all municipalities (we do surveys for) have decreases in their numbers.”
The survey measures 19 city services, and includes questions about general satisfaction, safety, interaction with City employees, value of property taxes, satisfaction with City services and facilities, and satisfaction with how the City is managed.
With said the number one issue most Airdronians are concerned about should not come as a surprise.
“The top issue is healthcare – not enough hospitals, doctors or clinics. Twenty-six per cent (of respondents indicated it was the top issue) in 2016,” she said. “When we reflect on our data from 2009 to 2016, it’s not becoming less of an issue, it’s becoming more of an issue in terms of perception or concern among residents.”
Decreases in satisfaction with managing community growth and development (down to 51 per cent from 59 per cent in 2015) and managing community affairs (down to 76 per cent from 83 per cent in 2015) were something to note, With said.
Satisfaction with the Airdrie Fire Department stayed consistent at 95 per cent in both 2016 and 2015, and satisfaction with RCMP rose to 88 per cent from 86 per cent in 2015. Satisfaction with organics recycling was measured for the first time and received a 73 per cent rating.
“I must tell you, organics collection does not normally score this high in the communities where I do assessment of it on its own, so you’re doing a good job of organics collection. You might not hear that, but your residents randomly selected (to complete the survey) are satisfied with the service,” With said.
With said the areas for improvement – those with higher than average importance but lower than average performance – are recycling programs (non-organic) and winter snow and ice removal.
“Even though (satisfaction) with snow and ice removal went up – almost doubled (from 38 to 55 per cent) – it’s still an area of potential improvement,” she said. “It’s an area of improvement almost across the board in Alberta. It’s just a challenge to provide the service.”
Key strengths include the Airdrie Fire Department, RCMP, garbage collection, Genesis Place Recreation Centre, outdoor recreation and the parks and pathway systems. Utility services also came out as a key strength, something With said was unusual.
Airdronians indicated they continue to feel safe in their city, With said, although the numbers for safety after dark and overall community safety did decrease slightly.
“(When rating) safety during the day, 98 per cent of your residents are giving it a rating of four or five out of five in terms of safety,” she said. “Overall community safety is still at 93 per cent (down from 94 per cent in 2015) and safety after dark is at 79 per cent (down from 81 per cent in 2015.) For a community with your growth curve, it is absolutely extraordinary to maintain this consistency.”
Mayor Peter Brown asked how many residents were called to collect the 400 surveys required to make it statistically relevant.
According to With, a total of 5,542 phone numbers were called.
“Of those individuals, we have 916 who refused to complete the survey. And we do have about 2,800 who don’t answer their phones after five or six calls – those are the non-respondents,” she said.
Brown said he was “very proud of the City staff and administration who provide the information to get those numbers on a consistent basis.”
