Scottish Household Survey Bulletin No.6 : page 9


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Scottish Household Survey Bulletin No.6

5. Neighbourhoods

Introduction

This section examines adults' views of their neighbourhood and their experience of a range of neighbourhood problems. It also looks at community involvement, for example, the types of social contacts people have had in the last two weeks and their views on the availability of help and support from friends and relatives in their area.

Rating of neighbourhood

Overall, nine in ten (91%) adults rate their local area as either a 'very good' or 'fairly good' place to live. Adults in small towns and rural areas are more likely than those in 'the four cities' and 'other urban areas' to rate their neighbourhood as being a 'very' or 'fairly good' place to live (Table 20).

Table 20: Rating of neighbourhood by urban/rural classification

Column percentages
Adults

	The four cities	Other urban areas	Accessible small towns	Remote small towns	Very remote small towns	Accessible rural	Remote rural	Very Remote rural	Total
Very good	44	50	54	56	56	63	69	67	51
Fairly good	44	41	40	38	38	33	26	29	40
Fairly poor	7	6	3	4	3	3	3	3	5
Very poor	5	3	2	1	3	1	2	1	3
No opinion	0	0	0	1	0	0		0	0
Base	9,476	8,760	2,738	488	867	3,566	701	1,671	28,267

In terms of Local Authority grouping, there is a high and consistently positive rating across all groups. Table 21 shows that adults in Southern Scotland and the Highlands and Islands are the most positive about their neighbourhoods (95% rating them as being either a 'very' or 'fairly good' place to live in each case), while those in Glasgow and North Lanarkshire are the least positive (83% and 87% respectively rating their neighbourhood as being a 'very' or 'fairly good' place to live).

Table 21: Proportion of adults who have used services in the last week by local authority grouping

Column percentages
Adults

	Edinburgh	Glasgow	Fife	North Lanarkshire	South Lanarkshire	Highlands and Islands	Grampian	Tayside	Central	Dunbartonshire	Renfrewshire and Inverclyde	Ayrshire	Lothians	Southern Scotland	Total
Very good	53	35	50	41	52	62	54	59	52	46	54	51	51	62	51
Fairly good	39	48	41	46	41	33	40	35	41	45	38	41	42	33	40
Fairly poor	5	9	5	8	4	3	4	4	5	6	5	5	4	3	5
Very poor	3	8	3	5	2	1	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	3
No opinion	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Base	2,339	2,922	1,804	1,499	1,491	3,844	2,228	2,067	1,887	1,025	1,861	2,038	1,859	1,413	28,277

In terms of what people particularly like about their neighbourhoods (Tables 22 and 23), the attributes most commonly mentioned are a 'quiet/peaceful' environment (mentioned by 57% of adults), 'good neighbours' (mentioned by 34%) and 'convenient shops/amenities' (mentioned by 31%). Five per cent of adults say there are no aspects of their area that they particularly like.

Adults in 'the four cities' and 'other urban areas' are more likely to mention attributes relating to convenience - for example 'good public transport' and 'convenient shops/amenities' - as aspects of their neighbourhood that they particularly like (Table 22). Adults in small towns and rural areas are more likely to mention attributes relating to the appearance and character of their area - for example, 'nicely landscaped/open spaces', 'good outlook/view', 'quiet/peaceful' - as aspects of their area which they particularly like.

Table 22: Aspects of neighbourhood particularly liked by urban/rural classification

Column percentages (multiple response)
Adults

	The four cities	Other urban areas	Accessible small towns	Remote small towns	Very remote small towns	Accessible rural	Remote rural	Very Remote rural	Total
Quiet/peaceful	48	58	62	63	66	71	75	77	57
Good neighbours	33	37	39	40	43	31	25	38	34
Convenient shops/amenities	37	34	26	24	47	15	10	10	31
Friendly people	25	27	33	29	39	34	32	39	28
Nicely landscaped/ open space	17	15	15	17	16	27	32	33	19
Safe/low crime	15	16	16	18	38	21	25	39	18
Good public transport	27	17	11	5	9	5	2	2	17
Good outlook/view	12	14	18	20	26	25	33	47	17
Good local shops	19	13	11	8	12	7	3	5	14
Area well maintained	12	10	9	7	11	7	5	5	10
Good local schools	10	11	10	8	13	7	4	6	10
Good local leisure facilities	8	6	5	3	7	3	1	3	6
Good facilities for children	4	4	4	3	5	3	2	3	4
Other	14	11	13	16	11	16	16	15	13
Nothing	6	5	4	3	3	4	4	2	5
Base	9,476	8,760	2,738	488	867	3,566	701	1,671	28,267

Adults in Edinburgh and Glasgow are more likely than those in other Local Authority groupings to say that they like their area because of 'good public transport' facilities and 'convenient shops and amenities'. Adults in South Lanarkshire, Highlands and Islands and Tayside are most likely to mention 'safe/low crime' as a positive aspect of their neighbourhood. South Lanarkshire adults are also most likely to say that they like their local area because it is 'well maintained' (Table 23).

Table 23: Aspects of neighbourhood particularly liked by local authority grouping

Column percentages (multiple response)
Adults

	Edinburgh	Glasgow	Fife	North Lanarkshire	South Lanarkshire	Highlands and Islands	Grampian	Tayside	Central	Dunbartonshire	Renfrewshire and Inverclyde	Ayrshire	Lothians	Southern Scotland	Total
Quiet/peaceful	45	43	62	57	62	70	58	68	62	55	53	57	60	71	57
Good neighbours	26	34	30	48	45	37	30	38	34	32	35	36	29	33	34
Convenient shops/amenities	40	33	28	26	31	26	31	39	26	23	34	28	31	21	31
Friendly people	25	25	30	34	34	34	25	31	24	20	28	28	29	33	28
Nicely landscaped/open space	25	15	15	13	23	25	15	24	19	18	15	15	18	22	19
Safe/low crime	17	13	18	16	23	29	15	23	14	11	18	15	14	18	18
Good public transport	30	28	14	18	20	6	14	19	12	17	18	14	14	5	17
Good outlook/view	15	10	15	9	17	31	14	22	16	16	21	18	14	22	17
Good local shops	21	21	11	12	19	8	12	16	13	11	12	9	13	5	14
Area well maintained	13	11	7	11	20	7	7	13	8	6	13	7	8	5	10
Good local schools	11	8	9	11	14	8	9	12	12	10	11	9	11	5	10
Good local leisure facilities	10	8	5	5	8	4	5	8	5	3	7	3	8	2	6
Good facilities for children	4	3	4	3	4	4	4	6	3	2	3	3	6	3	4
Other	22	11	9	10	9	18	18	10	16	15	10	11	16	14	13
Nothing	5	8	5	7	4	4	4	4	6	6	5	7	5	4	5
Base	2,339	2,922	1,804	1,499	1,491	3,844	2,228	2,067	1,887	1,025	1,861	2,038	1,859	1,413	28,277

The most common neighbourhood aspects that adults particularly dislike are 'young people hanging about/nothing to do for young people' (mentioned by 12% of adults), vandalism (mentioned by 8%) 'drug abuse', 'parking problems' and 'nowhere for children to play (each mentioned by 6%). Forty-six per cent of adults say there is nothing about their area that they particularly dislike.

Adults in Glasgow are more likely than those in any other area to mention 'young people hanging about', 'vandalism', 'drug abuse', 'alcohol abuse', the area being 'poorly maintained or run down' and the area being 'unsafe (or having high levels of crime)' (no table).

Again, there are differences between urban and rural areas, with adults in 'the four cities' and 'other urban areas' more likely to mention 'young people hanging about', 'vandalism' and 'unsafe/crime' as dislikes. In each case, adults in 'the four cities' are more likely to mention these dislikes than those in 'other urban areas'. Adults in rural areas are more likely to mention 'poor public transport' and 'poor shops and amenities' as particular dislikes (Table 24).

Table 24: Aspects of neighbourhood particularly disliked by urban/rural classification

Column percentages (multiple response)
Adults

	The four cities	Other urban areas	Accessible small towns	Remote small towns	Very remote small towns	Accessible rural	Remote rural	Very Remote rural	Total
Young people hanging about	15	11	10	7	6	8	5	4	12
Vandalism	12	7	5	7	4	4	1	1	8
Drug abuse	9	5	5	3	5	3	2	0	6
to Nowhere for children play	7	6	5	7	8	4	1	3	6
Parking problems	7	6	5	7	7	2	1	6
Noise	8	5	4	4	8	3	1	1	5
Poor public transport	4	3	4	3	4	13	13	13	5
Alcohol abuse	7	5	3	3	6	2	1	1	5
Poorly maintained/rundown	7	4	2	2	5	2	1	2	5
Poor local leisure facilities	4	3	5	5	6	7	8	8	5
Poor local shops	4	3	4	3	5	7	6	9	4
Unsafe/crime	7	3	2	2	2	1	1	0	4
Problem with neighbours	4	5	3	3	5	3	1	2	4
Problem with dogs	5	3	3	4	8	2	0	1	4
Poor outlook/view	2	2	1	2	5	1	0	2
Poor local schools	1	1	0	0	1	1	1	1	1
Other	23	21	22	29	26	27	27	34	23
Nothing	41	49	50	47	50	46	55	47	46
Base	9,476	8,760	2,738	488	867	3,566	701	1,671	28,267

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Scottish Household Survey Bulletin No.6

5. Neighbourhoods

Making It Work Together