Satisfaction with life and local area among people who work in the Cambridge area

Results from the Cambridge Ahead Quality of Life Survey

Bryn Garrod, Catherine L. Saunders, Marco Hafner, Christian Van Stolk

ResearchPublished May 19, 2015

In light of the continuing economic success of the Cambridge area, Cambridge Ahead, a membership organisation of large Cambridge area employers, set up its Quality of Life project to answer the following questions:

  • Is living in the Cambridge area an attractive proposition?
  • What does the answer to the first question mean for developing the Cambridge area not only as a place to work but also as somewhere to live?

This report is an analysis of a survey that RAND Europe conducted in 2014 on the employees of the Cambridge Ahead membership and a small number of other organisations. The survey explored respondents' experiences of local services, and their satisfaction with the local area and with their lives overall. We outline the main findings below:

  • Housing and traffic are the areas of most concern.
  • Respondents are satisfied with other local services and amenities.
  • Satisfaction with local services and amenities varies across demographic groups.
  • People who work in Cambridge live across a wide area.
  • There are noticeable differences between people living inside and outside the city.
  • Satisfaction with different areas is associated with satisfaction with local services and amenities.
  • Satisfaction with leisure, education and health facilities shows a significant relationship to local-area satisfaction.
  • The results suggest a significant relationship between local-area satisfaction and life satisfaction.
  • Making the Cambridge area a better place to live requires a rounded approach.

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Garrod, Bryn, Catherine L. Saunders, Marco Hafner, and Christian Van Stolk, Satisfaction with life and local area among people who work in the Cambridge area: Results from the Cambridge Ahead Quality of Life Survey. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2015. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1123.html.
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The research described in this report was prepared for Cambridge Ahead and conducted by RAND Europe.

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