[DIV class=storyheadline]We're unanimously happy about our city
[DIV class=storysubhead]It's just the traffic jams that get most us down, a new Decima Research study suggests
[TABLE width="100%" border=0] [TBODY] [TR] [TD colSpan=2] [/TD][/TR] [TR] [TD colSpan=2][FONT class=storybyline]Wency Leung[/FONT][/TD][/TR] [TR] [TD colSpan=2][FONT class=storypub]Vancouver Sun[/FONT][/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE] [DIV class=storydate]
Monday, January 15, 2007[/DIV]
[DIV class=storytext][!--begin story text--] [TABLE style="FLOAT: right" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width=250 align=right border=0 valign="top"] [TBODY] [TR] [TD] [TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 border=0] [TBODY] [TR] [TD][img height=210 src="vny!://media.canada.com/canwest/111/vs_loving_vancouver2_050107_210.jpg" width=210 border=0][/TD][/TR] [TR] [TD class=storycredit]CREDIT: Mark van Manen, Vancouver Sun file[/TD][/TR] [TR] [TD class=storycredit]the Decima Research study, which surveyed 1,453 Greater Vancouver-area residents by e-mail, said 73 per cent of respondents enjoy living in the area "greatly," 23 per cent enjoy it somewhat, and only two per cent do not like it.[/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE][/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE] Greater Vancouver residents are almost unanimously happy to be living here, but the majority believe traffic, the cost of local government, the quality of health services and the environment are diminishing the quality of life, a new Decima Research study says.
The market research firm's study, which surveyed 1,453 Greater Vancouver-area residents by e-mail, said 73 per cent of respondents enjoy living in the area "greatly," 23 per cent enjoy it somewhat, and only two per cent do not like it.
Of the total respondents, only two people said they hate living in the area.
The level of satisfaction between immigrants and those born in Canada did not differ, and while homeowners were more likely to respond positively, most renters and lower income households were "overwhelmingly prepared to say they enjoy living in [Greater] Vancouver," Decima said in a summary of the study released late last week.
"It was crystal clear that people like Vancouver, they're proud of Vancouver, but they'd like various issues to be addressed," Cam Davis, senior vice-president of Decima, said Sunday.
Close to 40 per cent of respondents believe the overall quality of life in the Greater Vancouver area is getting worse, compared to 23 per cent who think it's getting better. The rest said it's not changing.
When asked about specific categories that indicate quality of life in the area, in only one did a majority say things were getting better.
That category was the economy, which 60 per cent said was improving.
But a majority said things are getting worse in four other categories.
Some 93 per cent of all respondents said the amount of traffic in the area is a growing problem. The cost of local government, the quality of health services and the environment were also perceived to be getting worse by more than half the survey participants.
Residents were almost equally split on the subject of racial tolerance, with 27 per cent saying it's getting better, and 25 per cent saying it's getting worse. The rest said they were not sure or saw no change.
Fifty-eight per cent of respondents said they are satisfied with their mayor's performance, compared with 33 per cent who are dissatisfied.
Three out of four people said they were happy with the job the police are doing, while less than half said they are satisfied with the public transit authority TransLink.
Transportation and traffic congestion were dubbed the number one issue facing Greater Vancouver residents, followed by poverty and homelessness, housing affordability and crime.
Decima said the survey, which was conducted in late December, has a margin of error of two percentage points 19 times out of 20. The participants were weighted to represent the population characteristics of the Greater Vancouver area.
Davis said the market research firm has conducted similar surveys in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa.
Although he was not immediately able to give detailed comparisons between the cities, he said Greater Vancouver residents were slightly more positive about the quality of life.
"All I can say is, Vancouver is at the top of the list," he said.
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A Decima Research survey of 1,453 residents in the Greater Vancouver area found an overwhelming majority are happy with where they live:
73% enjoy greatly living in the Greater Vancouver area
23% enjoy it somewhat
2% do not really enjoy it
38% say the overall quality of life in the area is getting worse
23% say the overall quality of life is getting better
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I feel ripped off.. I thought that WE were getting a poll LOL!
I think those two people that they found that disliked vancouver must post on DV.
Yup my years on DV would atest to that about the 'haters' being on there.
If only 2 people said they disliked it.....which they stated was 2 %.......doesn't that mean only 100 people of the 1453 surveyed actually responded? Or is my math skewed.
Oh, I thought that we're getting a poll. Darn.
Okay here comes my high school math from a 'high school drop out'
A Decima Research survey of 1,453 residents in the Greater Vancouver area found an overwhelming majority are happy with where they live:
73% enjoy greatly living in the Greater Vancouver area
23% enjoy it somewhat
2% do not really enjoy it
38% say the overall quality of life in the area is getting worse
23% say the overall quality of life is getting better
___________________________________________________
Vancouver has 2.2 million people in the metro
This means that if they polled everyone 1,606,000 million people would say they enjoy greatly living in the Greater Vancouver Area.
506,000 people would say they enjoy it somewhat
44,000 would say they do not really enjoy it
836,000 would say the overall quality of life in the area is getting worse
506,000 would say the overall quality of life is getting better
So the question is where do you fit in the 'poll'
id be in the 836 category
you think its getting worse? How so?
(not trying to start something here but I'm being pollsterish)
Same here, Russ. The overall quality of life is getting worse.
Vancouver has 2.2 million people in the metro
[FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff80"]This means[/FONT][FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff80"] IF, [/FONT]they polled everyone 1,606,000 million people would say they enjoy greatly living in the Greater Vancouver Area.
IF that were the case those figures might mean something. But it actually says, 1453 people were surveyed by e-mail. It does not state how many responded. So your figures are WAY out of whack.
You've got to give reasons in order for people to start movements to fix things, blanket statements don't do much.
For example I could say I live in the most dangerous city in the US. (which I do) but I've got to give reasons.
a. poverty
b. racial problems
c. schools are crap
d. kids don't see a way out of life so they join gangs
e. guns
f. drugs
g. corruption
I gave reason why Saint Louis is the most dangerous city in America. You've got to give reasons to why you think Vancouver is in trouble. Heck I can give you reasons and I've never been to the city
a. homelessness
b. drugs
c. poverty
d. gang violence
e. housing prices
f. jobs?
whats your reasons for saying Vancouver is in trouble?
Not sure if it is Vancouver that is in trouble? Its mankind in general and humans are in trouble.
Vancouver has issues, but where doesn't?
I know a city in 'trouble'
[FONT size=1]shhh! don't let the secret out its Saint Louis.....[/FONT]
I seen a article somewhere on St. Louis and the crime level is the highest in the USA.
As for Vancouver, it really is like most of North America. The rich are getting fatter and the poor are getting more desperate. Middle class is something my kid will read about in a history website. Canada and the US alike.
Yup if I piss of my parents a little bit more I'm off to the most dangerous streets in the inner city. I live in the suburbs but if I'm kicked out the cheapest place for me to live is in the most dangerous city in the country where gun fights happen every night and somebody walking always gets shot for no reason. Its not safe to go outside there epecially when it gets dark thats when blood spills on the streets. Gangs rule the city the cops are powerless.
Sportsdude wrote:
Yup my years on DV would atest to that about the 'haters' being on there.
Too true, 2 tru, but I never would have thought that about St Louis? interesting posts and Seattle seems to have more in common with Vancouver than let's say Montreal? I like Montreal but Seattle is more to my kinda town...maybe its the two big sister Ports of Western'ers
All I can say is after I was done with university, I lived in the Bay Area of California for just over a year. When I moved back to Vancouver, I was very happy to be back. The Bay Area is beautiful, but just never felt like home. Coming back to Vancouver, it was like a breath of fresh air. It was also like going from 5th gear to 3rd gear. Just a bit less of the fast lane.
It is really whatever you are into. I love Vancouver!
Now, when I move back to BC, it won't be to Vancouver. I want a chunk of land by a nice lake somewhere. I will always proudly call Vancouver (Burnaby actually), my home town.
CK wrote:
All I can say is after I was done with university, I lived in the Bay Area of California for just over a year. When I moved back to Vancouver, I was very happy to be back. The Bay Area is beautiful, but just never felt like home. Coming back to Vancouver, it was like a breath of fresh air. It was also like going from 5th gear to 3rd gear. Just a bit less of the fast lane.
It is really whatever you are into. I love Vancouver!
Now, when I move back to BC, it won't be to Vancouver. I want a chunk of land by a nice lake somewhere. I will always proudly call Vancouver (Burnaby actually), my home town.[/DIV]
Good luck. We have been looking as well for land like that. Lakefront anywhere in BC is around 450k.
COOL!
I want to start my own consulting biz somewhere after I get a bit more experience and live in the interior somewhere quiet. No plans yet, I got a lot to do here first. My buddies and I have a cabin at Kalamalka in the meantime...but it is sure NOT quiet! Haha!
Really? 450 is starting.. and thats like 6 hour outta van at some small place.
Kelowna is over a cool million ON the lake. But a buddy who just moved up there (sucker!) bought a place a block away from teh lake in kelowna for three something. His neighbors have already made complaints about him.. and its not even the summer yet.
We also were looking on the island, would love to go over there. Want on the water though.. the cheapest place we found was up in Belcara.. for 310.
CK wrote: It was also like going from 5th gear to 3rd gear.
I bet that it was also like going from first to third and fifth base. ;)
Well...truth is, it is his cabin handed down from family. I put a lot of money into helping re build it. re did the whole foundation, walls, etc. I was happy to help pay my part for use of a cabin there. What are friends for hey!? He is in Burnaby, I am in Calgary, so its a nice middle place to meet each other and other friends too.
I am sure he could get a pretty penny for it now.
purelife wrote:
CK wrote: It was also like going from 5th gear to 3rd gear.
[/i][/DIV]I bet that it was also like going from first to third and fifth base. ;)
I tried to bless you for that one, but can only do 1 an hour!
purelife wrote:
I bet that it was also like going from first to third and fifth base. ;)
I tend to skip all the bases and slide straight home.
CK wrote:
Well...truth is, it is his cabin handed down from family. I put a lot of money into helping re build it. re did the whole foundation, walls, etc. I was happy to help pay my part for use of a cabin there. What are friends for hey!? He is in Burnaby, I am in Calgary, so its a nice middle place to meet each other and other friends too.
I am sure he could get a pretty penny for it now.
Sounds good CK! My parents have waterfront on the island halfway up.. and I have relatives with places on the gulf islands, so we launch our boat in macdonald point in richmond and 20 minutes to there.
Thats good you still see your friends...