/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25362061/STK_414_AI_CHATBOT_R2_CVirginia_D.jpg "No, Microsoft isn’t using your Office docs to train its AI")
The unrelentingly high cost of real estate, rent, and basic goods and services in Toronto is among the key factors that tend to inspire a less-than-ideal perception of the city, and one recent internal poll has now quantified just how deteriorated local sentiment about the quality of life here has become.
The results of the Listening to Toronto survey, which was conducted in late summer, unfortunately, show that while most in the city are proud to live in T.O. (75 per cent), fewer than half are hopeful about the metropolis’ future — or, rather, their own future in the metropolis due to the aforementioned factors, among other things.
According to data collected by Ipsos and included in a recent report for action from the city manager, 55 per cent of respondents disagreed with the notion that “the City of Toronto is moving in the right direction to ensure a high quality of life for me and my family today.”
At the same time, about half said they feel life in the 6ix has worsened in the last year, compared to only 11 per cent who felt it’s gotten better.
The results of the recent Listening to Toronto survey show half of those polled think life in the city has declined in the last year.
And, despite more than half of people — 54 per cent — rating Toronto’s quality of life as “good,” another 29 per cent deemed it “poor,” and seven per cent, “very poor.” Only 10 per cent would call it “very good.” Women also appear to be having a worse time, with only 59 per cent answering that their life here is “good” or “very good,” compared to 70 per cent of men.
A concerningly high number of people are also skeptical that the City of Toronto can provide them with the programs and services that they need (41 per cent), and no longer feel that it’s a good place to raise a family (42 per cent).
Most listed housing costs as the most important issue that leaders should focus on in the upcoming budget.
But, it’s not all negative: the vast majority of those who already use social services from the City (84 per cent) are happy with the quality of the help they were provided, and 75 per cent of people who have contacted City staff for one thing or another were happy with their experience.
A total of 80 per cent were happy with Toronto’s green spaces, while a lesser number, around 60 per cent, have been generally satisfied with the city’s transportation system and methods of disseminating information to the public.
Ipsos writes that this information will be helpful for summarizing current attitudes about various pain points, and inform staff in future decision-making on important matters.
Unfortunately, lousy perceptions of life in the region from those who live here have been pervasive in the post-COVID world, especially under present economic conditions: an Angus Reid Institute report from earlier this year indicated fewer people are content with the state of healthcare, education, housing, the cost of living and more than in 2019.
