Bristol Quality of Life: Damning survey reveals fall in life satisfaction plus growing fears over crime, pollution and money

An annual survey of almost 4,000 people across Bristol has shown a drop in the standards of living compared to before the pandemic.

The annual Quality of Life survey by Bristol City Council collects opinions on a range of indicators through questionnaires sent out in the post to residents across the city.

More than 75 questions were asked, covering health, lifestyle, the local community and services.

A summary of the 2021/22 results, published before the full report in March, reveals a ‘challenging’ situation, mayor Marvin Rees has said.

It shows drops in the percentage of people satisfied with their local area (74%, down from 80% in 2020), and the proportion satisfied with life (68%, down from 71%).

Almost a third (33%, up from 25% in 2020) said they had noticed gentrification taking place, and it was having a negative impact.

More people find it difficult to manage financially (9%, up from 7% in 2020), more fear crime impacts their daily lives (19%, up from 16%) and more say air quality and traffic pollution is a problem (75%, up from 71%).

On Bristol City Council, just 39% of people said they were satisfied with the job from the authority, and just 32% said the council had supported the local community in recovering from the pandemic.

Of the few positives, more than half of people said they played sport at least once a week (55%, up from 41%) and more than three-quarters of people said they saw their friends and family as much they wanted to (77%, up from 73%).

The city council also found the satisfaction gap between the citywide responses and those in the most deprived areas of the city has narrowed.

Mr Rees said “This year’s results provide us with a challenging but understandable picture of how residents feel about Bristol.

“The Covid-19 pandemic and the effects of continued underfunding from national government continue to have an impact on all our lives.

“I’m encouraged to see that we are putting council resources where they’re needed most and that our efforts are going some way to making the city a more equal place to live. This is confirmed with the satisfaction from deprived areas generally increasing from last year.

“But there is always more we must do as we work together to build a cleaner, greener and fairer city, for all Bristolians.”

The 2021/2 Quality of Life Priority Indicator results are available now on the council website at www.bristol.gov.uk/qualityoflife. The full report including all 190 indicators will be published in March.