City residents say Edinburgh is a great place to live

Survey gives capital the thumbs-up

Yet again Edinburgh residents have given a big thumbs-up to city life.

The latest Edinburgh Residents Survey found that a remarkable 92 per cent of the city’s residents regard Edinburgh highly as a place to live. This score has been over 90 per cent since this survey began in 2004.

The city centre continues to be a big draw for residents. More than half of those interviewed, 58 per cent, visited the city centre once or twice a week, emphasising the importance of the area for shopping, leisure and nightlife.

Residents’ top priorities are crime reduction, high-quality schools and nurseries and a clean and attractive city.

The streets were their cleanest ever during this year’s festival according to a new independent CIMS survey, conducted by Keep Scotland Beautiful.

And in May, a £2.5 million extension was opened at Flora Stevenson Primary School, part of a £239m investment in the city’s school estate.

Trams were the top reason for dissatisfaction with the way the Council is managing the city. The closure of Princes Street to traffic was a source of frustration for many and may have had a negative effect on the perceived quality of other transport services.

We have to be accountable to our residents and have taken these comments on board. We are working with tie to do more to ensure people are aware of changes to traffic management as a result of tram works.

Residents also said financial decisions of the Council caused concern. This coming year we face tougher budget decisions than ever before.

Throughout 2010, we’ll be engaging with Edinburgh residents on the pressures on public spending.

We’re already looking at alternative ways of providing and modernising services.

We have committed record sums to improving roads and pavements – around £60m over a three-year period from last year.

While the survey found that 38 per cent of residents were satisfied with the way the city is being run, Council staff scored very well when it comes to customer service. Council employees were polite and friendly with 84 per cent saying they were “well treated” by staff and 61 per cent saying their issue was cleared up immediately.