No doubt about it, Banff. You love your national park community.
The results of the 2013 Citizen Satisfaction telephone survey, conducted last fall by the Town, show 99 per cent of residents rated the overall quality of life in Banff as good or very good. And 98 per cent said they are proud to live in Banff.
Every election year, the Town of Banff asks residents to rank municipal service delivery, as well as identify top issues. For the first time, the Town contracted a national public opinion research firm to conduct a telephone survey with a randomly selected sample of 356 adult residents over a two-week period after last October’s municipal election. Random sampling provides more reliable results than the self-selected mail in or online surveys conducted in previous years. Results of the 2013 survey are considered accurate to within plus or minus five percentage points, that is 19 times out of 20, and data was weighted to reflect Banff’s overall population composition according to the 2011 Census.
The variety of services and amenities, the recreational and leisure opportunities, the clean environment, the small-town nature, beautiful scenery and being a national park community were some of the reasons why residents felt the quality of life in Banff is great.
Seventy-eight per cent of residents said they felt Banff was moving in the right direction to ensure a high quality of life for future generations.
However, the 12 per cent who thought the quality of life was worsening in Banff cited the high rents, lack of housing, too many special events and poor local tourism as negatives.
Nine in 10 residents (94 per cent), said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the overall level and quality of services and programs provided by the Town of Banff, up 7.5 per cent over 2010 survey results. Eight in 10 (84 per cent) said they receive good value for their tax dollar, an improvement of 20 per cent over 2010.
Of the six in 10 residents who contacted the Town in the past 12 months, 90 per cent said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the overall interaction. Town staff were ranked highly on all aspects of customer service measured, receiving 98 per cent for courteousness and 95 per cent for staff’s helpfulness, knowledge and accessibility.
The highest rank service provided by the Town was drinking water at 98 per cent, followed by fire services (95 per cent), parks, trails, sports fields and green space (94 per cent), recreational and cultural programs (94 per cent) and police services (93 per cent). The lowest ranked service was parking at 56 per cent.
Providing input into Council decisions is important to residents, and 77 per cent agreed there were enough opportunities, while 73 per cent said the Town does a good job of engaging residents. However, less residents (67 per cent) felt the decisions ultimately made reflected the voice of the majority of residents.
Residents identified social issues, mostly housing, as the most important challenge facing the community, followed closely by transportation.