City Manager's Bi-Weekly Report Vol 3 | Issue 7 | April 2019 | Page 19

FEATURE STORY CITIZEN SURVEY RESULTS SHOW PSL RESIDENTS' POSITIVE SATISFACTION CONTINUES TO GROW Posted: April 12, 2019 PORT ST. LUCIE – Residents continue to give Port St. Lucie high marks in several key areas measuring its quality of life and its desirability as a place to live, according to the results of the 2019 National Citizen Survey™. A majority of City residents who participated in this year’s statistically-valid Citizen Survey ranked Port St. Lucie as excellent or good in several categories including: overall image, quality of life and appearance, safety and place to live, retire and raise children. This was the second year in a row that Port St. Lucie joined hundreds of cities across the country in conducting a survey to measure the quality of life for residents. The National Citizen Survey™, which was conducted by the National Research Center, Inc., is a snapshot in time showing how Port St. Lucie residents from across geographical areas feel about their city. The 2019 results show positive changes over time in multiple areas. For example, 78 percent of the participants ranked Port St. Lucie’s quality of life as excellent or good – up 26 percent from a baseline survey conducted in 2009. Additionally, 76 percent rated PSL as an excellent or good place to retire – up 19 percent from 2009. “As we analyze the 2019 survey results and compare them to the results of the 2009 and 2018 surveys, the data shows that we are moving in the right direction and putting more and more distance between ourselves and the dark days of the Great Recession,” said Port St. Lucie Mayor Gregory J. Oravec. “I think we should take heart in our improvements and high performance, and especially in that an increasing number of citizens see their city government in a positive light when it comes to the fundamentals of overall direction, welcoming citizen involvement, confidence in city government, being honest, treating all residents fairly and having a sense of community because these are things that provide the solid foundation from which we will attack our great problems and realize our even greater opportunities.” C I T YO F P S L . C O M / N E W S F E AT U R E S TO R Y 19