These are the types of questions that a team of York University researchers, led by Prof. Paul Grayson, asked 827 residents of Toronto in a January 1998 telephone survey. Grayson, Director of the Institute for Social Research (ISR) at York University, will reveal the results of his survey on Thursday, April 23.

The survey is the first part of a long-term study dealing with the quality of life in Canadian cities. While this year's survey focused on Toronto, in 1999 and in subsequent years, the study will involve Toronto, Montreal, and any other cities that wish to participate.

This year's results shed important light on how Torontonians feel about their city, and future surveys will help to track how opinions about the quality of life may change as a result of municipal amalgamation, the downloading of services from the provincial to municipal level, and the changes in property tax assessment. Researchers surveyed residents of each of the five former municipalities within the new city of Toronto, and the results reveal interesting differences in opinions and attitudes among the municipalities. The results will also reveal the extent to which quality of urban life is related to factors such as income, ethno-racial origin, and gender.

WHAT:
News conference releasing results of survey,
"Quality of Life in Canadian Cities -- Toronto, 1998

WHO:
Prof. Paul Grayson, Director, York University Institute for Social Research
Also attending: Susan Stowe, a 4th-year Glendon College student who worked on this study as part of a practicuum on social science surveys
Municipal politicians

WHEN:
Thursday, April 23, 1998
9:30 a.m.

WHERE:
Committee Room "C", 2nd Floor, Metro Hall
55 John Street, Toronto

For more information, please contact:

Sine MacKinnon
Senior Advisor for Media Relations
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22087
email: sinem@yorku.ca
YU/038/98