Vital Signs Survey Reveals Calgarians Still Feel Optimistic About Their City Despite Downturn
Best of Calgary is a celebration of the people, places and voices that make Calgary an amazing place to live and call home.
Written by: Gary Davies
In spite of an economic downturn in the city that’s about to enter its sixth year, the majority of Calgarians still feel positive about the quality of life in their city.
This is just one of the revelations from the 2019 Vital Signs survey, recently released by the Calgary Foundation. Just under 2,300 Calgarians participated in this year’s survey, where they weighed in on areas critical to quality of life in the city. Calgary Foundation has been publishing the report annually since 2007.
Overall, the report found that just under 70% of Calgarians feel that “our quality of life is good or excellent,” while a similar number feel “the city is a great place to raise children.”
With a population now approaching 1.3 million people and an average age of just under 37, Calgarians may feel optimistic, but the economic pressures of the downturn in the oil and gas sector are taking their toll.
Almost three quarters of respondents say they “experience stress due to personal finances”; over half are struggling “to afford basic necessities like food, clothing and shelter”; and one-third feel they “don’t have opportunities for career development.”
These feelings are certainly the result of Calgary’s employment rate being stuck at 7%, the second highest of any city in Canada. In fact, only half of Calgarians said they felt good about their ability to find suitable employment.
Respondents said the city needs to focus on some specific areas in the years ahead, in order to move our quality of life index forward. These include:
• more reliable and affordable transit;
• better planned neighbourhoods; and
• more affordable housing.
To read the report in its entirety, please visit Calgary Foundation 2019’s Vital Signs.
Gary Davies is co-founder of Best of Calgary.