2022 Results
The survey was administered during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time of challenge for many local governments. While The NCS provides comparisons to national benchmarks, it is important to note that much of the benchmark data was collected prior to the pandemic. This may impact how our City's 2022 ratings compare to other communities' ratings from the past five years.
The National Research Center highlighted the following findings in this year's report:
Residents value Port St. Lucie's natural environment and support further focus in this area.
At least 8 in 10 respondents gave high marks to the city's air quality, and 7 in 10 were pleased with the cleanliness of the community and the quality of the city's parks. The availability of paths and walking trails received positive reviews from nearly two-thirds of respondents, increasing by about 10% over the City's previous survey iteration. The city's water resources (66% excellent or good), overall quality of natural environment (64%), recycling services (63%), and preservation of natural areas (55%) were all rated favorably by the majority of residents. Although these ratings were generally positive and most items remained on par with national averages, it's important to note that many of these quality ratings declined since 2021, indicating an opportunity for renewed focus in this area.
Residents also voiced support for further improvements to Port St. Lucie's natural environment. In a custom question unique to Port St. Lucie, residents were asked to consider the City's strategic plan for developing environment lands and park spaces to support recreation, water quality, and green space. About three-quarters felt it was essential or very important for the City to allocate funding for land acquisition to address these needs over the next five years. Additionally, residents were asked to describe in their own words their top three priorities for the City to address in the next year. In total, about 10% of submitted responses were related to natural environment preservation, green initiatives, and suggested enhancements to parks, trails, and recreational facilities.
Downward trends within some aspects of the City's utility infrastructure indicate opportunities for improvement, particularly regarding the collection of household waste and refuse.
While two-thirds of Port St. Lucie residents positively rated the overall quality of the utility infrastructure, on par with benchmark communities across the nation, a few items within this facet of livability received lower scores than in 2021. About 6 in 10 respondents offered positive evaluations for utility billing services, and just under half favorably rated the City's drinking water, both of which declined by about 10% since the previous survey iteration. Affordable high-speed internet access also received significantly fewer positive reviews this year, with just under 4 in 10 rating this service as excellent or good. Most notably, garbage collection services dropped by over 30%, falling from 82% to 48%, which was much lower than the national average (though this ratings decrease is understandable, given recent issues with the City's garbage collection service provider).
When asked generally which aspects of the community the City should focus on in the next two years, nearly 9 in 10 residents identified the overall utility infrastructure as a priority. In a separate question, residents were asked to indicate their top three priorities for the City over the next year. About 10% of the submitted write-in responses focused on managing Port St. Lucie's development and growth, many of which also discussed utility infrastructure needs. Another 6% of those write-in responses focused specifically on improving garbage pickup and recycling services. In a custom question unique to Port St. Lucie's 2022 survey, the City asked residents to select their three most-preferred potential service changes related to household waste collection. Two-thirds were in favor of a scheduled bulky item pick-up day, and roughly half selected options for City-provided containers for household waste and weekly automated garbage collection services.
Mobility continues to be both a challenge and priority in Port St. Lucie.
Many mobility-related ratings in Port St. Lucie have experienced significant fluctuation over the past few years, some of which may be partially attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bus or transit services (33% excellent or good) and sidewalk maintenance (59%) both received higher ratings this year and appear to have bounced back from a brief decline in 2021. Street cleaning services received slightly fewer excellent or good reviews this year (64%), in line with 2020 scores. Still other items experienced more significant decreases, falling below pre-pandemic levels previously seen in the City and also below the national averages. Fewer than half of survey participants offered positive evaluations for the ease of travel by car, and about one-quarter did the same for traffic flow on major streets, both of which fell by roughly 25% since last year. It is important to note that the temporary rise in ratings from 2020-2021 related to car travel, traffic, and parking is likely tied to fewer cars on the road during pandemic-related shutdowns.
As in previous years, mobility-related concerns topped the list of priorities identified by residents in the open-response portion of the survey. When residents were asked to write in their own top three priorities for the City to address, about 17% of the responses focused on overall mobility improvements (including topics such as sidewalks, street lights, and public transportation), and an additional 16% pertained to improving issues relating to traffic and roads.
Employment opportunities are on the rise, but affordability may be a growing concern.
Most aspects of Port St. Lucie's economy remained stable since the previous survey iteration, with a few notable fluctuations. About 6 in 10 survey participants gave positive reviews to the city's overall economic health and the overall quality of business and service establishments, both of which were on par with 2021 survey results and comparison communities nationwide. At least half were pleased with the vibrancy of Port St. Lucie's commercial areas, shopping opportunities, and the variety of business and service establishments. A similar proportion also favorably rated Port St. Lucie as a place to work, and nearly 4 in 10 gave high marks to the community's employment opportunities, the latter of which increased significantly (nearly 15%) over 2021.
Despite this, residents indicate the need for further attention on the economy, particularly regarding general affordability. Although still similar to the benchmark, positive evaluations of the cost of living and the availability of affordable quality housing both dropped by at least 10% since last year. When asked to write in the top three priorities they would like the City to focus on in the next year, 13% of residents cited concerns regarding the affordability of living in Port St. Lucie, and another 9% requested improvements to various aspects of the City's economic activity and development. However, a bright spot emerged in one specific area of affordability on the survey: favorable ratings for the availability of affordable quality childcare/preschool increased by over 10% in this years' results (from 33% to 47%), showing positive strides toward recovery after a few years of steady decline.