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The Citizen's Survey was last conducted in January 2010 and covered 23,400 households in HRM. 2,420 completed surveys were received during this time, resulting in a completion rate of 10.3%. This ensured a statistically reliable sample size, large enough to identify key issues and trends.
Key Findings
Overall
Public Safety
Transportation
Recreation, Leisure and Culture
Infrastructure
Solid Waste and Environment
Governance and Communications
Useful Links
2010 Consultants Report
2010 Presentation to Regional Council
2010 Tabular Data
2010 Citizen's Survey Copy
Overall Results
- Quality of life within HRM is high with approximately 80% of citizens rating
HRM as a good or a very good place to live. A significant majority, about 90%,
like the neighbourhood they live in, and over 70% know their neighbours or have
people close by who can be contacted in the event of an emergency. Features that
make HRM attractive include easy access to services and amenities, friendly
people, ideal size, and its proximity to water.
- HRM is considered a good place to raise a family by 70% of residents, and
while 77% of respondents are employed in a profession of their choice, only
about half felt that there were enough opportunities for work within their
chosen fields.
- One half of the population in HRM believe that the quality of life has
stayed the same while the rest are equally split between those that believe the
quality of life has improved (25%) or worsened (26%). Factors that contributed
towards a better quality of life include improved public transportation,
increase in amenities, shops and restaurants, improvements in roads and
highways, and access to healthcare and doctors.
- Increase in crime, higher taxes, and traffic congestion were the primary
concerns amongst the 26% of residents that believe the quality of life has
worsened over the past five years. Harbour cleanup, road conditions, as well as
improvements in municipal leadership were also listed as areas of priority.
- Residents are generally satisfied (44%) with the overall direction of the
Municipal government, but over half are either dissatisfied or have no opinion,
and feel that decision making processes are slow or that too much time is being
spent on trivial issues. In addition, almost half, or 45%, feel that their
voices are not heard or reflected in Council’s decision-making.
- A significant number of residents, over 80%, expressed the need for
Councillors to work together to resolve issues that face their communities as
well as the entire region, and to work on addressing service inefficiencies.
- Citizen participation in Municipal government is low, and over 50% of HRM
residents have never attended or watched Halifax Regional Council meetings,
public meetings, or contacted Councillors or HRM offices on issues or decisions
made by the Municipality. However, 25% to 30% participate in some form by
attending public meetings, volunteering, or contacting HRM at least once a year.
- A generally positive economic outlook exists within HRM. However, residents
feel that improvements to road conditions, investments in the transit system, a
change to the tax structure, increased public safety, and increased efforts to
attract and retain businesses and young professionals would further improve
economic prosperity.
- 36% of residents feel that they are not receiving good value for their
property taxes (versus 19% who are agree that they do receive good value). When
asked about what type of change, if any, they would be willing to accept in tax
and service levels, the majority, roughly 32%, feel that taxes should stay the
same but be shifted between various municipal services.
Public Safety
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Citizens generally feel safe within their communities or when they walk downtown during the day but only 22% feel safe in downtown Halifax at night. A perceived increase in violent crime, drug related crimes as well as a lack of police presence, contribute towards this feeling of unsafeness. In comparison, 62% of HRM residents are confident that the police will respond promptly in an emergency, and 82% are satisfied with fire and emergency services response time.
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A gap analysis between the importance of various public safety measures and their relative satisfaction rates revealed that there is a large gap between citizens’ expectations and service levels on the maintenance of existing infrastructure facilities, the availability of late night transportation options, and communications regarding criminal activity.
Transportation
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Citizens suggest a range of service improvements that would motivate them to use public transit but there is no clear preference amongst the options provided. Increased service frequency tops the list at 41%, followed by punctual service (37%), more direct/limited stops (35%), and added service to rural areas (28%).
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The largest gaps between citizens’ expectations and Municipal performance in the area of transportation were: maintenance of streets and roads, a lack of downtown parking alternatives or parking availability, the management of rush hour traffic, snow and ice removal, transit coverage - particularly to rural areas, and transit service frequency.
Recreation, Leisure and Culture
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Residents like to take advantage of HRM’s leisure and cultural opportunities as indicated by the high percentage of residents that visited parks (91%) attended a civic event or festival (78%), or attended a cultural presentation (61%) at least once or twice per year. Many residents are more frequent users, making leisure activities a monthly occurrence.
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Recreation facilities and services are less utilized; however, roughly 25% of HRM residents use trails, participate in recreation or leisure programs, or attend local community centre or recreation facilities at least once a year. The cost of recreation programs (52%) or facilities (46%), and the lack of facilities within a reasonable distance from people’s homes (40%) were cited as the main reasons for non-participation.
Infrastructure
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The top five capital projects as noted by residents, and listed in order of priority were: improved streets and road conditions (53%), upgrades or expansions to water treatment facilities (31%), increased capacity of major roadways (31%), improvements to active transportation facilities (26%), and redevelopment of the downtown core (22%).
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In the debate on heritage vs. development, 63% of residents believe in a mixed approach to development – 37% lean towards mixed, with a focus on heritage while 26% prefer mixed, with a development focus.
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When conducting a gap analysis between the importance residents place on programs or services, and their satisfaction with the Municipality’s efforts, timely pothole repairs, wastewater treatment, and overall pavement condition were listed as the priorities, with potholes and wastewater receiving the highest gap scores of any program surveyed.
Solid Waste and Environment
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Almost all, or 96%, of HRM residents participate in the Blue Bag/Paper Recycling, and Green Cart composting program (90%). Green cart dissenters were concerned about pests, and a lack of access to the service or space to store the compost bin (particularly for those living in apartments).
Governance and Communications
- 44% of residents are satisfied with the overall direction of the Municipal government, but nearly half are either dissatisfied or have no opinion, and feel that decision making processes are slow, or that too much time is being spent on trivial issues. In addition, almost half, or 45%, feel that their voices are not heard or reflected in Council’s decision-making.
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A significant number of residents, over 80%, expressed the need for Councillors to work together to resolve issues that face their communities as well as the entire region, and to work on addressing service inefficiencies.
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Citizen participation in Municipal government is low, and over 50% of HRM residents have never attended or watched Halifax Regional Council meetings, public meetings, or contacted councillors and HRM offices on issues or decisions made by the Municipality. However, 25% to 30% participate in some form by attending public meetings, volunteering, or contacting HRM at least once a year.
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The majority of residents, 52%, feel adequately represented by Council under its current Council and Community Council structure, but of the 18% who do not feel well represented, 40% believe that reducing the size of Council would further enhance its effectiveness.
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