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Survey says 99 per cent of residents call life in View Royal ‘good’ or ‘very good’

Survey suggests residents prioritize traffic-related issues highest
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Traffic on Island Highway due to construction and line painting near Elements Casino (File photo)

A Town of View Royal survey suggests residents are satisfied with the overall quality of life and town services, but consider the most important issue facing the city to be traffic-related.

When it comes to traffic flow, residents viewed congestion, police and fire safety and community planning and development as the most important local issue, at 53 per cent. Education and climate change and the environment had the fewest mentions, at two per cent and three per cent, respectively.

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Ninety-nine per cent of residents rated their quality of life in View Royal either ‘good’ or ‘very good,’ while 90 per cent reported being satisfied with the overall quality of services provided.

When asked about View Royal’s level of information provided to residents, 21 per cent of respondents said they received too little. Residents prioritized wanting the town to provide information on land development proposals (87 per cent), taxes (86 per cent), community planning (86 per cent) and upcoming events (84 per cent) the most.

At 52 per cent, most participants said if given a choice to cut services or raise property taxes, they would prefer the higher rates to maintain current level of services. Eighty six percent felt their tax dollar value was either ‘good’ or ‘very good.’

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On the approach to funding large projects, 68 per cent said they would prefer the town put aside funds each year over borrowing (17 per cent), raising taxes (9 per cent), or a combination (2 per cent).

A total 401 respondents participated in the survey. At 80 per cent, a majority of the respondents were over the age of 55, but were weighted lower by NRG Research Group, which conducted the survey for the town. One person took the survey online, while 400 were reached by random dialing.

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Homeowners made up 88 per cent of the respondents. A little over half of residents were in households with two members, while 29 percent had three or more. While 19 per cent refused to answer, most households earned between $30-60k (23 per cent), followed by $60-90k (19 per cent), $90-120k (15 per cent) and over $150k (11 per cent).

“Improving road maintenance is a key driver of overall satisfaction with the level and quality of service provided by the town,” the report states. It recommends the town consider “focusing messaging on opportunities for residents to engage in both planning and volunteering for events.”

swikar.oli@goldstreamgazette.com


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