Canberra was ranked as the second most attractive city to live in based on its selection of good schools, healthcare services, safety and employment opportunities says a livability survey commissioned by the Property Council of Australia.

However, Canberra ranks poorly in terms of having a good range of quality affordable housing and a good public transport service. “Canberra’s residents have confirmed again that Canberra is, on the whole, a good place to live,” ACT Executive Director Catherine Carter said. The survey tested the views of 571 Canberra residents, among 4072 polled nationally, benchmarking its performance against 17 attributes that define good cities.

It established which attributes of a city mattered most to residents, the relative performance of capital cities and the performance of state governments on key issues. The survey found that Adelaide ranks as Australia’s most livable city, followed by Canberra with Melbourne third. Sydney’s residents rated their city as the worst in the nation.

Other key findings from the survey include:
• The most important attribute of a good city to Canberrans is making it a safe place for people and their property, with 24 percent placing it first;
• Healthcare, employment and economic opportunities, being an affordable place to have a good standard of living, and a city that is clean, well-maintained and unpolluted complete the top five of the most important attributes.

Canberra’s performance was then tested and it found:
• Attractive natural environment scored highest with residents (85 percent)
• Other attributes which scored highly include having good schools and other educational facilities (81 percent) and good employment and economic opportunities (78 percent)
• However, Canberra residents were least likely to agree that Canberra is an affordable place to have a good standard of living (37 percent), have good public transport services (24 percent) or a good range of quality affordable housing (22 percent).

Carter added:“But on issues such as housing affordability and property taxes, Canberrans have spoken – and they are calling for change."

“There is no doubt that the ACT Government has been proactive in recent years in its attempts to address housing affordability problems in the Territory with positive initiatives such as an accelerated land release program.

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