Notable honors and awards
City cited for being a great place to work from home
BY SUSAN BURGESS
The city is celebrating its 60th anniversary and a new collection of awards and honors. Be sure to check again in the fall when the city will have even more to talk about.
PSL Top-Ranked for Working at Home – Moody’s Analytics said Port St. Lucie joins such trending work from home locations as Washington, D.C.; Bridgeport, Connecticut; Newark, New Jersey and Dallas, Texas, based on Moody’s list of criteria including pedestrian and bike access, green space and recreation areas. Port St. Lucie is one of the more affordable areas along Florida’s Treasure Coast; it ranks at the 70.4 percentile in cost of living and 91.4 percentile in quality of life.
Third-best city in the U.S. for retirement – Port St. Lucie earns the distinction from Travel + Leisure magazine for its desirability, happiness measure, health-care quality, affordable homes and other factors. Coming in ahead of Port St. Lucie are Sarasota in first place and Fort Myers in second place. The magazine uses several sources to compile a list of 11 cities in the U.S considered to be among the best places to retire.
Tree City USA – The Arbor Day Foundation named Port St. Lucie a Tree City USA and a Growth Award Winner. It is the 16th time the city has been given the tree award in honor of its commitment to effective urban forest management.
“Tree City USA communities see the positive effects of an urban forest firsthand,” foundation president, Dan Lambe, said. “The trees being planted and cared for by Port St. Lucie are ensuring that generations to come will enjoy a better quality of life.”
Port St. Lucie is a Best-Performing City – It ranks 31st among 2021’s best-performing cities with similar characteristics in America, moving up four spots from 2020, according to the Milken Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy institute. The institute used several criteria including job and wage growth performance, broadband accessibility, and housing affordability.
53rd Happiest City in America – Financial site WalletHub drew upon the findings of positive-psychology research to determine which of the more than 180 largest U.S. cities is home to the happiest people in America. In category groups of emotional/physical well being, income/employment, and community/environment, the city ranks 11th in community/environment, meaning most residents love where they live. Of Florida communities, only Cape Coral ranks higher than Port St. Lucie.
Crosstown Parkway Extension wins National Best Highway/Bridge 2020 Award – After winning the Engineering News-Record’s southeast division best highway/bridge 2020 award, the Crosstown Parkway extension and bridge won the weekly magazine’s national award. Award winners represent the pinnacle of design and construction achievement in their respective categories from across the U.S. Projects were completed between May 2019 and May 2020.
City Animal Control Division awarded FACA Outstanding Agency of the Year – Port St. Lucie Animal Control Division won the Florida Animal Control Association [FACA] Outstanding Agency of the Year Award. It was honored for its:
• Expanded public outreach during the pandemic through use of social media
• Strengthened relationship with the Humane Society of St. Lucie County
• Developed additional community partnerships with local veterinarians, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations
• Refined the Trap Neuter Vaccinate and Return program which resulted in reduction of cat impounds by nearly 90%
• Increased return to owner percentage from 53% to more than 70%, resulting in fewer animals being taken to the humane society
