Tank: Survey suggests life quality in pessimistic Saskatoon declining

Article content

Nearly half of respondents to a new survey commissioned by Saskatoon city hall said they think quality of life in the city has declined in the last three years.

Article content

Article content

That’s one of the grimmest takeaways from the survey of online panellists that shows concerns about homelessness and crime remain top of mind in the Bridge City.

The survey was conducted last year by Forum Research Inc. from May 22 to June 10. On June 10, coincidentally, both Cynthia Block and Gord Wyant launched their campaigns for mayor.

Article content

The survey employed “computer-assisted web interviewing,” which sounds like artificial intelligence gobbledegook, and gathered the views of 812 Saskatoon residents. (Bizarrely, the survey claims a margin of error and then explains why no such “true” measurement is possible because polls of online panellists are not random samplings.)

The Forum Research report on the results is dated in November.

Regardless, the pessimistic survey results are sobering, especially when compared to a previous poll in 2023.

The percentage of respondents rating Saskatoon’s quality of life as “good” or “very good” has plummeted to 72 per cent, the lowest level in the 12 years city hall has been commissioning the survey.

While nearly three-quarters sounds decent, that share has slumped from 89 per cent in 2012 and has consistently decreased from 87 per cent in 2016.

In 2016, you may recall, Charlie Clark defeated Saskatoon’s longest-serving mayor, Don Atchison, to win the city’s top office amid a slowdown in the once-booming economy. Block also joined council in 2016.

The drop in this year’s survey represents the steepest decline tracked by the polls, which are generally commissioned every year.

Article content

Article content

And it’s clear that respondents feel the quality of life is dropping. The percentage who believe that the quality of life in Saskatoon has improved or stayed the same in the last three years has fallen from 80 per cent in 2021 to 52 per cent.

Meanwhile, the number of those who feel the quality of life has deteriorated in the last three years has jumped to nearly half from 29 per cent a year earlier. Those who feel life has improved dropped from a third in 2023 to 19 per cent.

Those represent some sobering statistics for a new city council with six rookies.

Homelessness again ranks as the top issue for respondents, followed by crime/public safety/policing again in second place. But both of those appear to be growing as concerns.

In 2023, homelessness ranked atop respondents’ concerns, with 19 per cent citing it as the No. 1 issue. That share has increased to 23 per cent, with crime jumping from 15 per cent in 2023 to 21 per cent last year.

Three issues tied for third place at eight per cent: Housing, cost of living and — Saskatoon’s perennial concern — road and sidewalk maintenance.

Article content

For perspective, the top issue registered in the 2018 survey was crime (17 per cent), followed by taxes (13 per cent) and infrastructure (eight per cent). Oh, for the dreamy days when an issue far less dire than homelessness, like infrastructure, made the top three.

A full 60 per cent in last year’s survey selected one of the related issues of homelessness: crime, housing and cost of living.

The number of crimes reported to police in Saskatoon, which grew to an estimated 308,000 people last year, actually declined in 2024. But the perception of crime may resonate more than reality. Statistics will fail to sway anyone who feels the community is unsafe.

This survey was conducted prior to a mayoral campaign in which former provincial justice minister Wyant claimed Saskatoon was “broken” due to crime and Atchison proclaimed a need to restore law and order.

And homelessness also represents a growing challenge. This survey happened months before the most recent point-in-time homeless count revealed a stunning 1,499 vulnerable individuals identified in October. A similar count in Regina revealed a far lower but still shocking number of 824 homeless people.

Article content

Accordingly, on election night in November, Block said homelessness would be her top priority and pledged to create a mayor’s task force on the issue.

Residents appear to have their own ideas, according to a related survey conducted by Forum Research that also questioned 812 residents from June 4 to 24.

Affordable housing ranked atop the list of areas where survey respondents would like to see increased service from city hall, with 70 per cent citing it, up 10 points from 2023.

Affordable housing units declined starkly under Clark and targets were consistently missed. That seems like a good place for city hall to start.

Phil Tank is the digital opinion editor at the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.

[email protected]

twitter.com/thinktankSK

@thinktanksk.bsky.social

Our websites are your destination for up-to-the-minute Saskatchewan news, so make sure to bookmark thestarphoenix.com and leaderpost.com. For Regina Leader-Post newsletters click here; for Saskatoon StarPhoenix newsletters click here

Article content