Housing availability, affordability key issue in Halifax municipality’s 2024 resident survey

Halifax’s 2024 resident survey shows people are less satisfied with the delivery of city services than previous years.

Housing was one of the top issues in a recent resident survey conducted by the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM).

As part of the survey, residents shared their opinion on municipal priorities, their satisfaction with municipal services and their thoughts on potential and proposed changes and improvements, as well as other key issues impacting communities across the region.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

The key highlights of the survey results are as follows:

• Top issues: The lack of housing was identified as the primary issue facing the municipality over the next five years by a significant margin. Other key issues include affordable housing and rent control, transportation and traffic, transit, poverty, homelessness and health care.
• Quality of life: Eighty per cent of residents surveyed rated their quality of life as very good or good – which is down nine per cent from 2021. The results show the decrease was attributed mainly to concerns about housing affordability and availability, as well as the increased cost of living.
• Perception of value for taxes: Forty-three per cent of residents said they received very good or good value for the property taxes they paid, a decline from 72 per cent in 2021.
• Satisfaction with municipal services: Sixty per cent of those surveyed were very satisfied or satisfied with the delivery of all services provided by the municipality. That number is down from 82 per cent four years ago.
• Service levels: When asked if they would like to increase, maintain or decrease service levels for municipal services, a majority of residents said they would prefer to maintain service levels for 34 of the 40 municipal services surveyed. Services identified as areas desirable for increased service levels include support to address homelessness and supporting those who are unhoused, efforts to support food security and strengthen the food system, public transit – including conventional bus and overall transit service – street and road maintenance, and climate action.
• Priorities: When asked to rate the importance of 22 aspects of the Regional Council Priorities in the 2021-2025 Strategic Priorities Plan, residents rated all but one as very important or important. Ensuring the transportation network allows easy movement around the region was rated the highest, with 96 per cent of respondents saying it was very important or important.
• Infrastructure: Forty-four per cent of residents rated housing as the most important infrastructure project for the municipality to invest in over the next five years. Streets and roads, climate change mitigation and protection and food security also rated high.
• Municipal direction and public engagement: Thirty-five per cent of residents voted that the municipality is moving in the right direction to ensure a high quality of life for future generations. Over two-thirds felt the municipality did a good job communicating regional and local issues.
• Service quality: Of those surveyed, 75 per cent said they had some form of contact with the municipality over the past year and 84 per cent of respondents were satisfied with their interaction. Ratings for people using online services were also high, with 83 per cent satisfied with the outcome of their interaction.
• Housing and homelessness: Eighty-five per cent of residents believe the municipality should allocate additional resources to address the creation of more housing in general and 78 per cent believe the municipality should allocate additional resources to address homelessness.
• Food security: Fifty-one per cent of residents indicated that the greatest barrier of getting the food they need to be healthy and active was that food was not affordable.
• Environment: The top priority for action on environment and climate change was food security, followed by extreme weather and emergency management.
• Policing: Fifty-seven per cent of residents said police are doing an excellent or good job, while 13 per cent said they were doing a poor or very poor job.
• Public safety: Ninety-four per cent of respondents said they feel safe in their neighbourhood during the day and 70 per cent at night. Thirty-seven per cent felt safe at night in downtown Halifax and 30 per cent felt safe in downtown Dartmouth at night.
• Parks: Seventy-three per cent of residents were satisfied with the various municipal park assets and services, apart from the condition and availability of public washrooms.
• Libraries: Sixty-one per cent of residents say they’ve used the Halifax Public Libraries over the past year, with 98 per cent of users saying they were satisfied with the library system.
• Mobility and transportation: Sixty-one per cent of those surveyed said they commute to work, with 65 per cent using their own personal vehicle as their primary mode of transportation. Nineteen per cent reported using public transit, and eight per cent said they walk or use a mobility device. Satisfaction with the ease of getting around by various modes varied from 79 per cent for walking, to 35 per cent for public transit. Respondents said things that would encourage more people to use public transit would be more reliable service, more frequent service, more direct routes and shorter travel times. The overall condition of roads in the municipality was rated as good by 29 per cent of residents, whereas sidewalks were scored 52 per cent.

The report, which was conducted by Narrative Research between Sept. 20 and Oct. 13, 2024, surveyed 2,029 residents through online, telephone and paper formats.

This was the eleventh resident survey since municipal amalgamation in 1996.

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page.