Undertaken in August 2001, the Quality of Life survey examined community perceptions as well as more tangible indicators of life in Buffalo City. Funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, the study was conducted by the East London branch of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) at Rhodes University together with Buffalo City Municipality.

During the project, field workers used a detailed questionnaire to collect information from 2 477 households, giving information on more than 10 000 people. This is a large enough sample to represent accurately the views of all residents.

The data constitutes a very thorough and comprehensive assessment of the quality of life in Buffalo City, and has provided the municipality with a valuable baseline from which the quality of life in Buffalo City can be improved.

Called the Quality of Life survey, the results profile the people of Buffalo City. It describes the homes they live in, their work, how they travel, how they spend their spare time, what sort of education they have, and other aspects of their lives. It talks about their worries and concerns: lack of jobs, poor housing and lack of services, crime, and many others. It also describes what makes them happy and what they are satisfied with.

Census data was used to provide details on the number of people in Buffalo City, what wards they live in, what ethnic group they are part of, and what type of housing they live in.

Here are some of the main facts from the survey:

• A typical Buffalo City household is made up of four people.
• Almost a quarter of the people in Buffalo City are aged between 10 and 19 years of age. The next most common age group - just under a fifth of the population - is 20 to 29 years.
• More than 40% of people have completed Grades 8 to 12 in school. Almost 10% of adults have never been to school, and about the same percentage have some post-matric education.
• Almost one third of Buffalo City's adults are unemployed. About four out of every 10 people are either formally or informally employed, or self-employed.
• The average monthly household income is just over R2 655. The average African household's income is about R2 800 and for white households it is about R10 500.
• The most popular spare time activity is watching TV and videos. People also like reading, cooking and baking, gardening and being part of religious, cultural and political groups.
• Family and friends are very important in helping to make people feel satisfied with their lives.
• There are very big differences among the people of Buffalo City when it comes to income, educational levels, employment opportunities, housing and services.
• More than half of the people know about Buffalo City. Not all of them feel that they will benefit from being part of it, but they do have clear ideas about what they would like the city to do for them.