Majority of residents believe Council is performing well

Edinburgh residents have once again voted their city as the very best place to live in the UK.

A recent Ipsos MORI poll, commissioned by the Council and carried out in autumn 2006, showed a fantastic 92 per cent satisfaction level among residents – the highest ever recorded by MORI in any UK city!

There was also a big thumbs-up for the way that the Council runs the city.

The majority of residents – 54 per cent – believe the Council is doing a good job, a figure that’s up three per cent in just 12 months.

The role of Edinburgh as the Festival City was also given warm approval, with 73 per cent of residents believing that the world’s largest summer and winter festivals made Edinburgh a better place to live.

This confirms the contribution that the festivals make to the quality of life in Scotland’s capital city and attractiveness of Edinburgh as a place to live.

It also reflects the huge economic benefit that the festivals deliver for Edinburgh and the whole of Scotland.

In previous surveys, residents had identified crime reduction as their number one priority.

Here, the Council’s continuing investment in additional Police officers and joint initiatives with Lothian and Borders Police and other Community Safety Partnership members is making a real difference.

A downward trend is evident in all issues that are considered to be common neighbourhood problems.

The Council has made community safety a top priority and made sure that resources were allocated to make the changes people have asked for.

In recent years, it has invested significant sums in CCTV systems, Environmental Wardens, Community Safety Officers and, of course, more Police officers.

The recent budget put in place funding for another 18 officers who will become part of the city’s Youth Action Teams or City Centre Alliance.

This will bring to more than 100 the number of officers funded or part-funded by the Council.

People have also noticed and appreciated the differences being made when it comes to quality of life issues, such as vandalism and graffiti.

Only 20 per cent of respondents considered these a problem, compared with 30 per cent in 2004.

There were similar responses to issues such as young people hanging about, down from 44 per cent in 2004 to 34 per cent in 2006, and problems linked to drink or drug abuse down from 29 per cent to 24 per cent over the same period.

The city centre continues to be a big draw for Edinburgh residents. More than half of the city residents interviewed – 56 per cent – visited the city centre once or twice a week, emphasising the importance of the area as a major shopping venue.

Other reasons for a visit were working, socialising or eating out.