Calgary housing gets a D in quality-of-life report

Calgary deserves a D when it comes to its housing stock, according to a report card released Tuesday by the Calgary Foundation.

The second annual Vital Signs project had residents grade the city in 12 key areas — including housing, the environment, and the gap between the rich and the poor — as a way to measure the quality of life. When the results were tallied, the city ended up with two Bs, nine Cs, one D.

Mayor Dave Bronconnier said he wasn't surprised by the low grades.

"Most of it is fairly consistent with the information that the city's research department conducts on an on going basis."

"Calgary's fast-paced economic growth puts us at a crossroads of unrest as we wrestle with labour shortages and safety concerns, such as the increase in domestic violence,"  says the report released by the foundation, a philanthropic group that has supported charitable activities since 1955.

In 2007, city police received 12,276 domestic-violence calls, an increase of 500 from 2006. That increase contributed to Calgary's C-minus rating when it came to safety, even though statistics show crime rates falling.

When it comes to housing, Calgary got a D. According to the report:

• The average house cost 4.2 years of annual income for the median family wage in 2006. Six years earlier, it only cost 2.9 years.
• The number of homeless people in Calgary rose by 18 per cent over 2006. There were 4,060 homeless counted this year.
• Among employed Calgarians, 24 per cent earn less than $15 an hour. That's below the minimum wage needed to afford an average one-bedroom apartment ($17.27 an hour would be needed without spending more than 30 per cent of income on shelter). 

Calgary earned Bs for its education system and for its work environment. 

"Calgary is one of the most highly educated cities in the country with positive trends for high school completion and aboriginal attainment that are above the national average," the report says.

But 15 per cent of Calgarians over age 15 hadn't completed high school, according to 2007 statistics.

As for work, the report says Calgary has the highest number of small businesses in Canada, as well as 109 head offices.

Income of immigrants lower

In the category "Getting Started," the report takes a snapshot of foreign-born residents, who made up 24 per cent of the population in 2006.

"Almost 50 per cent of employed immigrants who came to Alberta have post-secondary credentials but despite these qualifications, their average income is 63 per cent [that of] non-immigrants," says the report.

About 700 people went online to fill out the Canada Foundation survey. About 78 per cent had lived in Calgary for more than 10 years, 49 per cent were between the ages 35 and 54 and 68 per cent were female.

Kerry Longpre, spokeswoman for the philanthropic foundation, said the report provides an important snapshot of how the city sees itself: "I'm confident it's an accurate reflection of interested Calgarians who took the time to go online."

A national Vital Signs report also released Tuesday concluded that the level of child poverty is currently at the same level it was in 1989.

The highest poverty rates among the 15 communities studied by researchers were said to be in Toronto and Vancouver, while the lowest rates were reportedly in Calgary and Oakville, Ont.