ThinkHQ/Metro News Poll
Few cities enjoy friendly rivalry more than Calgary and Edmonton, and our early March ThinkHQ/Metro News Poll carries on the tradition by pondering which city is a better place to live? And according to various measures of quality of life rated by residents, the definitive answer is…it’s pretty close.
Edmonton and Calgary residents were asked to gauge a series of attributes about the quality of life in their city on a 10-point scale, where 10 meant a rating of “Excellent” and 1 meant “Very Poor”.
Citizens of both cities give high marks for most elements such as public and green spaces, friendliness, vibrancy and public services. Ratings tend to be weakest in areas related to crime, commuting, affordability and (more recently) the strength of the economy.
- Calgarians offer slightly higher ratings of the quality of life in their city overall, averaging 6.8 on a scale of 10, compared to 6.6 for Edmontonians.
- Calgary residents have significantly higher ratings when it comes to seeing their city as a “friendly and welcoming” place (7.1 out of 10) vs. an average of 6.6 in Edmonton, and are slightly more apt to give higher ratings for vibrancy.
- When it comes to crime and safety, Calgary receives substantially better ratings, averaging 5.8 out of 10 vs. 5.2 in Edmonton.
- On the other hand, Edmonton residents offer significantly better ratings for the strength of their local economy today – averaging 5.1 out of 10 vs. only 4.4 among Calgarians.
- And the most significant difference between the two cities is perceived affordability. On average, Edmontonians rate their city as 5.7 out of 10 compared to Calgary where this attribute rated only 4.3.
Click the link to view detailed findings and methodology: Metro Poll March 2016 – Quality of Life