Vital Signs report grades remain steady despite downturn
Calgary has been called everything from the fifth most livable city in the world to the third worst city in Canada for women over the past year, but what do Calgarians think of the place?
According to the latest Vital Signs report published by the Calgary Foundation, we're pretty chuffed.
Despite daily reminders of economic Armageddon, those surveyed gave the city a B for overall quality of life based on seven categories: arts, community connections, lifelong learning, wellness, environment, thriving populations and living standards.
"There weren't a lot of surprises," said Kerry Longpré,the project leader on the report. "We had expected that the grades for living standards and thriving populations, those areas would certainly show a drop, and that in fact happened. They dropped from a C+ to a D- and those areas were the only drops."
Priorities and reality
The report combines responses from selected Calgarians, including their priorities for improvement, with research into the areas in question. It can often reveal the gulf between our aspirations and reality, and the work that needs to be done.
In the area of community connections, respondents highlighted the need to "increase awareness of diversity and racism issues" in the city, while research shows 68 per cent of all respondents reported hate/bias incidents that were either racially or ethnically motivated.
On a more positive note, the arts received a B, the highest grade of all the sections, with 32 per cent of those surveyed highlighting the need for affordable activities as a priority.
According to the research, there are over 10,000 arts events in Calgary each year, with 3.6 million attendees.
"The other area that I was really pleased to see, is that of those arts events, close to 3,500 of them produced activities that engaged diverse communities," said Longpré. "Meaning those arts offerings included reference to disability or multiculturalism or LGBTQ or aboriginal. So I thought that was pretty cool as well."
All those events bode well for the fact 57 per cent of those surveyed who identified diversification of our economic base as a priority, and probably also works for the highlighted need for more affordable rental housing.
Downturn and doldrums
The survey took place between May and June, so it likely does not capture the full weight of the economic downturn in responses and priorities, but there were troubling signs that mental health continues to be an issue.
"We reported mental health affected 21 per cent of the working population and contribute to 30 per cent of the short and long-term disability claims," said Longpré.
"We've been hearing this, that one of the biggest issues in the mental health field is around the workplace, it clearly now is exacerbated."
Other highlights from the report:
- Calgary is the second most attractive city in Canada to immigrant newcomers, yet 68 per cent of hate crimes in Calgary are motivated by race.
- Calgarians decreased the amount of waste sent to landfills by 125 kg per capita in 2014 — a drop of 17 per cent.
- Voter turnout in the last federal election was 54 per cent with the bottom four Alberta ridings being in Calgary.
- Youth crime has decreased by 40 per cent since 2010.
- 87 per cent of Calgarians believe that arts help bring people together.
Read the full report at calgaryfoundation.org.
