Seventy-eight per cent of people in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia see it as a good place to live for people in general while 83 per cent are satisfied to live in the city, according to the Quality of Life in European cities survey, the results of which were released by the European Commission on October 13.
The survey was done among 83 European cities in 2019.
The results for those two questions in Sofia are below the average for the survey, respectively 91 per cent and 89 per cent.
The results of Sofia for questions regarding specific categories of people are significantly different from the percentage of those who see the city as a good place to live for people in general.
Only 47 per cent see Sofia as a good place to live for immigrants, against an average for the European cities surveyed of 75 per cent.
Sixty-eight per cent of those polled in the Bulgarian capital saw it as a good place to live for gay and lesbian people, against an average of 78 per cent.
Just 44 per cent saw Sofia as a good place to live for elderly people, against an average of 80 per cent, while 60 per cent saw it as good for families with young children, against an average of 82 per cent.
The results of some questions about the level of satisfaction with various aspects of quality of life in Sofia stand out as notably below the averages for all cities.
Only 27 per cent of residents of Sofia are satisfied with the air quality, against an average of 62 per cent. Thirty-eight per cent are satisfied with the noise level, compared with an average of 65 per cent, while only 34 per cent are satisfied with the cleanliness of the city, against an average of 62 per cent.
Forty-one per cent of those polled in Sofia believed it was safe to walk at night, compared with an average of 75 per cent.
Twenty-six believed there was corruption in the local public administration, while the average for the 83 cities was 49 per cent.
Thirty-eight per cent were satisfied with the time taken to get a request to the local public administration dealt with, against an average of 56 per cent.
Fifty-five said that they used public transport, 79 per cent said that they were satisfied with it, while 70 per cent said that it was affordable. In the first two cases, these figures were above-average while the third was just below.
Sixty-four per cent of respondents said that they were satisfied with the financial situation of their households, against an average of 72 per cent. Fifty per cent saw housing in Sofia as affordable and 62 per cent said that it was easy to find a job in the city.
Seventy-eight per cent were satisfied with the city’s cultural facilities (against an average of 83 per cent), 51 per cent with sports facilities (against 74 per cent), 65 per cent with Sofia’s green spaces (against 77 per cent) and 60 per cent with the public spaces (against 77 per cent), according to the report.
Source: https://sofiaglobe.com
