Downtown Victoria is seen as being safer at night but perhaps not as exciting as it was three years ago, according to a recent Ipsos Reid survey.
Sixty-four per cent of citizens surveyed by Ipsos Reid on behalf of the city agreed that the downtown core is safe at night, compared with 58 per cent in 2010, when the last survey was conducted.
But only 60 per cent of residents polled said the downtown is vibrant and exciting in the evening, down from 64 per cent in 2010.
While the majority of people living in Victoria feel safe and welcome in their neighbourhoods, about 18 per cent of those surveyed reported not feeling safe walking alone in their neighbourhood in the evening.
Ipsos Reid conducted the telephone survey of 600 residents and 300 businesses in April and May. The survey is conducted for the city every three years. Results are considered accurate to within plus or minus four percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Overall, the city continues to perform well in the eyes of the vast majority of residents.
Ipsos Reid said citizens’ ratings of their quality of life is encouraging. A vast majority of respondents (97 per cent) believed the quality of life is good or very good.
When asked how the quality of life has changed over the past three years, two-thirds said it has stayed about the same. A sizable minority (20 per cent) said their quality of life may have deteriorated slightly, while 12 per cent said it may have improved.
And some feel they are not being listened to. Sixty per cent of those surveyed said the city welcomes citizens in decision-making (down from 73 per cent in 2010) and 55 per cent said the city listens to citizens (down from 69 per cent in 2010).
By comparison, 48 per cent of businesses said the city listens to businesses.
Ipsos Reid says that generally, businesses are more critical of the city than are its residents.
“Businesses tend to be slightly more critical than citizens in a number of different areas, including perceptions of downtown Victoria and city operations, overall satisfaction with municipal services and value for municipal tax dollars,” the report says.
Residents and businesses are generally aligned in terms of what they see as important municipal issues, with social and transportation-related issues identified as the top concerns for both groups.
However, residents prefer tax increases over service cuts, while businesses prefer service cuts rather than tax increases.
The key social issue identified was homelessness, followed by affordable housing.
