Sydney residents are happy with quality of life but concerned about cost of living, survey finds
Sydney residents are happy with their quality of life and believe it has improved as the city recovers from the worst of the pandemic, but many are concerned about the cost of living, a new survey shows.
The poll, conducted by Ipsos for the Sydney Commission 's urban think tank, polled 1,000 people across much of Sydney between January 5 and 17 and found that 81% of Sydneysiders are satisfied with their quality of life, up from 74% in 2022 (75% in New -York and 76% in London.
Many believe that life in the city is also improving, with 37% saying the quality of life is better than it was 12 months ago, up from 19% in 2022 and 20% in 2021.
However, 85% of the city's residents are concerned about the cost of living, a figure that has held up in recent years. The survey found a link between concerns about the cost of living and feelings of diminished quality of life.
Domestic workers in Sydney are also returning to their offices, with 33% of workers now commuting five days a week, up from 28% in 2022. The number of daily domestic workers has fallen sharply: only 12% do not go to work. overall, compared to 30% in 2022.
Among the survey's most worrying findings was that 64% of North Sydney residents agreed nightlife was safe, 61% agreed in the eastern and metropolitan suburbs, but this dropped to 42% in the western suburbs.
"There is a lot of confidence in the community going into 2023," said Ehsan Wizadeh , acting chief executive of the Sydney Commission, but "the only exceptions are access to decent, affordable housing and the cost of living."
When the results are broken down, it becomes clear that people who are concerned about the cost of living tend to be more pessimistic about the future.