Results from the City of Terrace’s 2021 Citizen Satisfaction Survey indicate that most respondents are satisfied, but there are concerns about social issues, especially in the city’s downtown.
Overall, just under two-thirds of people said that they were either very satisfied or satisfied with the City of Terrace, with eight per cent of respondents neutral. Twenty-two per cent of people selected somewhat dissatisfied and seven per cent were very dissatisfied.
The survey featured write-in questions where people were asked what they liked and did not like about living in Terrace.
Common positives that emerged were Terrace’s outdoor recreation opportunities, its size, and its people. Negatives included homelessness, crime, and the downtown core.
Those same themes were popular answers to a question about what should be getting the most attention from the municipal government, where respondents honed in on addiction, mental health and crime, especially downtown.
When asked to identify other local issues to note, fewer people responded but offered more diverse answers like sidewalks, Lanfear Hill and industrial development.
As for the quality of city services, just over half of people that completed the survey said that they were either very good or good, but more people described services as very poor (14 per cent) than very good (11.6 per cent).
In total, 86 people took the survey, which was available from July 14 to Sept. 3 on engage.terrace.ca. People could also pick up hard copies of the survey at city hall, the Sportsplex, the library and other locations. Of the respondents, close to 70 per cent were female and almost 55 per cent were 45-years-old or older.
Almost 20 per cent of people that completed the survey live outside of Terrace, 38 per cent live on the Bench, 30 per cent in the horseshoe or downtown and 14 per cent live on the Southside. Over half (55.8 per cent) have lived in Terrace for more than 20 years, and 73 per cent have lived in Terrace for at least 10 years.