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OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, May 21, 2009 · 8 Vision ­ To be the most livable town in Canada Oakville Tops In Livability 2009 REPORT CARD TO CITIZENS Pollara Strategic Insights on behalf of the Town of Oakville. A random sample of 805 residents were asked about their views on the community; what they valued most about Oakville; what they saw as the top challenges facing Oakville; how they rated a wide variety of Town services; and what they had to say about future spending priorities. Findings are accurate to +/- 3.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20. The results are in! According to the Town's 2009 Citizens Survey, an overwhelming 89 per cent of Oakville residents surveyed expressed overall satisfaction with key attributes of local government and 88 per cent are satisfied with Town programs and services. A remarkable 85 per cent of residents said that Oakville is better than most areas in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) when it comes to livability. The telephone survey was conducted by A GOOD PLACE TO CALL "HOME" Residents were asked to rate eight key attributes that contribute to quality of life in Oakville. Over nine in ten residents rate a sense of belonging and being safe (94%) and quality of buildings and overall appearance (92%) as Oakville's top attributes. These are followed by very high ratings of the effort the Town makes to protect heritage (87%), the amount of information provided to residents (85%) and the Town's responsiveness to the needs of the community (80%). Nearly seven-in-ten say they are satisfied with the Town's management of tax dollars (69%). Feeling of Belonging/Being Safe Quality of Buildings/Overall Appearance Protection of Heritage Information to Residents T O W N S E R V I C E S M E E T E X P E C TA T I O N S Overall, residents asked were very satisfied with the Town's programs and services. Seven of 11 service areas receive satisfaction levels of over 80%, led by satisfaction with public library services (91%), parks and green spaces (90%), harbours and waterfront areas (89%), recreation programs (88%), recreation fields and facilities (86%), Oakville's fire services (83%) and arts and cultural programs and venues (85%). While Town roads and sidewalks (79%), winter road and sidewalk maintenance (67%), provision of municipal parking (67%) and Transit (51%) do not exceed 80% these are municipal services that often rate lower in most municipalities. Satisfied with Town Services Library Parks Harbour/ Waterfront Recreation Programs Recreation Fields/Facilities Cultural Programs Fire 94 92 87 85 91 90 89 88 86 85 83 Roads Winter Road Maintenance Parking Transit 79 67 67 51 Responding to Community Needs Protection of Environment Public Involvement in Gov't Managing Tax Dollars 80 79 72 69 PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE Residents were asked about the greatest challenge preventing Oakville from being the most livable Town in Canada. The top three challenges are being overcrowded or overdeveloped (12%), town expansion generally (9%) and the cost of living (7%). Notably, 23% of residents say they don't know or can't name a particular challenge that prevents Oakville from being the most livable Town in Canada. Concern over growth was a consistent theme of the survey. While growth and development remained the most important issue identified by residents (25%), the good news is that concern over urban sprawl/development has dropped five per cent from 2007 and 14 per cent from 2004. Other Overcrowded MANAGING GROWTH A KEY PRIORITY To assist with prioritization of policies and plans for the future, residents were asked to choose which priority they would like to see the Town focus on most. Managing growth in the Town was most often selected as the key priority overall by residents, followed by Oakville's natural environment and then Oakville's local infrastructure. Managing Growth Natural Environment 61 54 51 48 38 37 14 12 Expansion 9 Don't Know Infrastructure Governing/ Managing Town Transit Recreation/Culture Programs 23 5 7 5 Cost of Living Affordable Housing Transit/Parking Environment/ Pollution Lack of Services 33 4 5 5 Traffic High Taxes Infrastructure/ Roads For More Information This is the fourth Citizens Survey Oakville has conducted. Current and past survey results are available for reference and can be viewed at www.oakville.ca. For more information please contact the Strategy, Policy & Communications Department at 905-845-6601 ext. 3689 or email communications@oakville.ca.