Portland residents are giving the city the lowest livability ratings on record, according to a City Auditor’s report released Wednesday.
The auditor’s office surveyed 3,000 Portlanders by mail this summer. Sixty-three percent of respondents said they feel that Portland is livable. That's the lowest rating the city has received since the auditor began asking the question in 1998. It's down from 74 percent last year.
Portland City Auditor
Geographic and demographic disparities were apparent in respondents’ opinions.
For example, 74 percent of Inner Northeast Portland residents gave the city’s livability a positive rating, compared with just 44 percent of East Portland residents.
Portlanders also gave lower ratings if they were older than 60, didn’t have a bachelor’s degree, earned less than $75,000 a year, had a disability, or had lived in their current residence for more than ten years.
Livability wasn't the only measure of Portlanders' satisfaction that declined this year. Residents are increasingly concerned about housing affordability, land-use planning, traffic, the city's delivery of services, and other issues.
Those who have lived in their homes for more than ten years and those older than 60 were most consistently dissatisfied, registering lower levels of satisfaction than other demographics on every issue except housing affordability.
Portland City Auditor
You can read the auditor's full report
.
