Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson is riding a wave of popular support despite public concerns about a lack of progress on homelessness and anger over the Hornby Street bike lane, according to a new Angus Reid poll.

Robertson has one of the highest approval ratings among Canadian politicians, with 43 per cent approving of his performance and 47 per cent disapproving of it.

That may not sound like a ringing endorsement, but Mario Canseco, vice-president of communications for Angus Reid Public Opinion, said it's an astonishingly high approval rating, especially compared with the ratings of other current politicians.

"This is great news for an incumbent," he said. "What's fascinating is that Robertson has such a high approval rating. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is at 30 per cent. Premier Gordon Campbell was at between nine and 12 per cent before he resigned. The NDP's Carole James is at 25 per cent.

"It is rare for someone in Canada to be over 40 per cent, so having someone at 43 per cent is something of a phenomenon."

However, those numbers don't make him a shoo-in for next fall's civic election. Less than one-third (31 per cent) of Vancouverites polled believe he deserves to be re-elected, while 40 per cent said he doesn't and the remaining 29 per cent "don't know."

The random poll of 403 Vancouver residents was done Nov. 2-4 and has a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.

Canseco said respondents tended to reflect the voting outcome of the 2008 civic election; 54 per cent said they voted for Robertson while 39 per cent said they chose Peter Ladner of the Non-Partisan Association.

The poll found there was a noticeable gender gap, with almost half of women — 47 per cent — approving of Robertson while 55 per cent of men disapproved of him.

It also showed that despite significant efforts to reduce street homelessness, which Vision Vancouver says has been reduced by 47 per cent over the past two years, most people — 57 per cent — believed the problem had not improved. More alarmingly, 17 per cent believe it has worsened, with just one in 10 believing it had improved.

On public safety and overall quality of life, nearly one-quarter of respondents believe matters have worsened under the mayor. On artistic and cultural activities — one of the four Vision Vancouver platforms in 2008 — 15 per cent believed matters had improved. But 18 per cent say it has worsened, with just under half believing it has stayed the same.

And yet Robertson gets what Canseco says are "impressive marks" for his actions on the environment, with 32 per cent saying he's done a good job. One in 10 believe the environment has worsened.

It is on the Hornby bike lane that people are most divided, with 53 per cent opposing the creation of the lane and 42 per cent supporting it. But when broken out by what mode of transportation the respondents use, the numbers reflect a pattern. Nearly three-quarters of those who drive to work or school dislike the lane, while 86 per cent of those who ride a bike to work or school approve of it. Roughly half of those who take public transit or walk approve of the lane.