PORT ST. LUCIE LIVING
RANKINGS RECONFIRM A GIVEN:
PSL IS A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE
BY SUSAN BURGESS
Kudos to Port St. Lucie! Once again it has earned the
distinction of being named to lists ranking it as one of the
greatest places to live in this country.
WalletHub, which ranks cities and states on a variety of
qualities, ranked the city 38th out of 182 cities it calls “the
happiest places to live” in the United States.
And U.S. News & World Report just finished a study that
named Port St. Lucie the 79th out of 125 cities on a “best
places to live” list.
The people who live there think it’s pretty nice too. In a
survey conducted by the National Research Center earlier this
year, more than 80 percent of about 7,000 participants said the
city was an excellent or good place to live. That’s up 19 percent
over the number of people who responded to a similar survey
10 years ago.
“There is a lot to love about Port St. Lucie, which is why I
sometimes playfully refer to us as ‘Port St. Luckies’,” Mayor
Gregory Oravec says. “We are blessed by natural resources that
epitomize the Florida lifestyle.”
The city has an abundance of green spaces, preserves and a
river threading through it. The North Fork of the St. Lucie River
provides a place to boat, paddleboard, fish, enjoy a narrated
tour by boat, take stunning photographs of wildlife including
a variety of water birds, and hike nature trails. It also has more
than 35 parks, some simple and passive, others for sports or
with playgrounds.
It also has the New York Mets training stadium and PGA
championship golf courses and its learning center right next
door.
The U.S. News & World Report’s survey based its rankings
on how people felt about a city’s quality of life, unemployment
rate and average salary; cost of living and median household
income; whether people wanted to move there, and whether a
city is attracting new residents. Austin, Texas, was ranked first,
followed by Colorado Springs.
“We have one of the highest rates of homeownership in the
country; and we’re a melting pot, where people of all races and
ethnicities live together,” Oravec says.
WalletHub looked at 182 cities to see what made people feel
content to live there. Researchers focused on 28 indicators of
happiness including depression, income growth and average
leisure time per day. Port St. Lucie and Cape Coral were the
first two Florida cities ranked – Cape Coral at 37 and Port St.
Lucie at 38. Fremont, California, was first.
Port St. Lucie has gone out of its way to make residents and
visitors feel welcome with projects ranging from naming its
many neighborhoods to inviting everyone to a meeting to help
with planning for the city’s future. It has garnered awards for
accomplishments including becoming Florida’s safest city.
“We are the safest large city in Florida,” the mayor says.
“We’re a large and growing city with an increasing number
of citizens, amenities and opportunities and we’ve kept our
friendly hometown feel.”
“Based on these and other strengths, I often think that what
makes Port St. Lucie most special is that we are a place where
the American dream is alive and well; and, just as an essential
element of the American dream is the belief that a good life will
be even better for our children and the next generation. I believe
that an essential element of Port St. Lucie is our great promise.
For all that there is to love, our best is yet to come!” E
40 Port St. Lucie Magazine
FOR RANKING DETAILS VISIT:
US News - https://realestate.usnews.com/places/rankings/
best-places-to-live
WalletHub - https://wallethub.com/edu/happiest-places-tolive/
32619/#main-findings
CITY OF PORT ST. LUCIE
City officials have gone out of their way to make residents and visitors feel welcome by hosting many events during the year including the annual Fourth
of July festivities on the grounds of the civic center.
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