Survey says: We love our city!

I love good data because it leads to good decisions. The release of today's annual citizen satisfaction survey gives The City an excellent, quantifiable snapshot of what Calgarians are thinking.

The data show what most Calgarians already know: we live in a great city with a high quality of life. We are proud to live here and, for the most part, we get good value for our tax dollars. Plus, we're optimistic that, as a community, we're on the right track. I’m proud that the citizen satisfaction survey has consistently shown this since I've had this role.

You can review all the findings at www.calgary.ca/citizensatisfaction, but here are a few highlights:

• Quality of life perceptions remain very high, and much higher than in 2010.
• Satisfaction with city services remains high.
• When it comes to the big issues, infrastructure, traffic, and roads remain at the top, followed by transit.
• Nearly two-thirds of people perceive good value for their municipal tax dollar.
• There's broad consensus asking for more investment across city services.

I encourage you to dive deep into the study, which was conducted by respected research firm Ipsos Reid.

As we get closer to budget decisions over the next two weeks (www.calgary.ca/actionplan) the opinions of you and your fellow citizens will continue to be very important.

- Mayor Naheed Nenshi