Results are in: County of Grande Prairie residents report remarkably high satisfaction with quality of life

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A County of Grande Prairie survey available to residents last November shows high rates of satisfaction living in the region.

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Results are in: County of Grande Prairie residents report remarkably high satisfaction with quality of life Back to video

Community members report feeling safe, feel pride living in the region, and are satisfied with County performance.

The survey letters had a response rate of 6.3 per cent.

6,533 residential letters were sent, and 448 were completed. 2,419 letters were sent to residents living in agricultural areas, and 118 were completed.

This is the first time the survey was made available online after they were given over the phone in 2011, 2014, and 2021.

Some results are as follows:

– 96 per cent of residents feel quality of life is good
– 86 per cent of residents express pride living in the County
– 36 per cent of residents showed they receive good value for the municipal portion of their property taxes, compared with 28 per cent in 2021
– 89 per cent of residents agree the County is safe
– 69 per cent are satisfied with County performance, a drop from 83 per cent in 2021

Quality of life results have remained consistent over the last three years.

Top of mind issues for residents are taxes, road conditions, and budget control, as well as healthcare, land use, and planning and development, reads the survey.

“Matching the top priority, County of Grande Prairie residents are satisfied with the Fire Department. Residents are less satisfied with road and sidewalk maintenance and upgrading (upgrading especially so).”

Road and sidewalk maintenance, waste management, community planning, and land use are major satisfaction drivers. These areas will be monitored, as improving them might help raise satisfaction.

Those who felt unsafe, a small number, said it’s because of increasing theft incidents, followed by high crime rates.

“County of Grande Prairie residents would prefer to cut services to maintain current tax levels. This is unsurprising given the current economic climate, and it may be worthwhile for the County not to make any large spending changes in 2024.”

Some feel there is poor value for taxes, and the top three reasons are poor road maintenance and cleaning, limited services, and lack of accountability and wasteful spending.

People are overall satisfied with council and administration’s performance, though it has decreased since 2021.

The same goes for satisfaction with programs and services. Thoughts on their quality were shown to be high, but it has decreased. The survey states this could relate to County performance since programs and services are what residents associate municipal government with.