The results of Kelowna’s latest citizen survey indicate that people living in the city believe that the quality of life is worsening.
Although 90% of the citizens surveyed believe they have a good quality of life, more than half (55%) say the quality of life in Kelowna has “worsened” over the past three years.
The survey, which will be presented to city council on Monday, found that 34% of residents believe their quality of life has remained unchanged.
About 8% of survey respondents claimed that their lives had improved.
When a previous survey was conducted in October 2020, 40% of respondents rated their quality of life as very good. That fell to just 29% in 2022.
So what is causing the overall perceptions of quality of life to slip? The survey found that social issues were the main detriment to residents’ quality of life.
“Social issues continue to dominate the public issue agenda with 57% of citizens identifying social issues as the most important issue facing the community on an open-ended basis,” reads the report.
“Comments around housing affordability, poverty and homelessness were the most frequent.”
The survey shows that the rising cost of living (21%), safety concerns (14%) and housing affordability (11%) have all contributed to a decline in quality of life.
About 10% of residents said that overcrowding was another aspect that impacted their quality of life.
The survey also found that perceptions of community safety have also declined. About 81% of residents feel very safe or somewhat safe.
In 2020 and 2018, 87% of residents claimed they felt safe in Kelowna.
Furthermore, the overall satisfaction in city services dropped from 91% in 2020 to 80% in 2022.
The survey found that fire services, police services, road maintenance, snow removal, public transit, climate change and city growth management all dropped significantly.
Finally, survey respondents claim that the city’s value for taxes has decreased. This year, 75% though the value of taxes was good, this is a drop from 79%in 2018 and 2020.
However, the report shows that more than half of the respondents (53%) would prefer tax increases over service reductions.
Kelowna City Council will be presented this report on Monday at 1:30 pm.
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