HCP Associates Finds Pinellas County Citizens Look Forward to a Prosperous Future

CLEARWATER, Fla. (April 17, 2018) HCP Associates recently presented findings from Pinellas County’s annual citizen survey. This was the eighth year that HCP conducted a citizen study for the county, and results point to a residential base that has an optimistic outlook toward the future.

Beginning in 2011, Pinellas County selected HCP to conduct citizen-centric research. The goal of the research was to gain a representative sampling of citizen feedback to support the county in delivering evidence-based support. Each year the telephonic survey is deployed to landlines and mobile phones of residents throughout the county to gather pulse data on their quality of life, perceptions of the future, expectations for community characteristics, trust in the county government and much more.

HCP Senior Research Director Sarah Lindemuth said, “Questions included in the survey align with main themes within the county’s strategic plan. As such, the results offer year-over feedback to the Commissioners as well as county staff regarding how they are moving the needle on these critical components of the overall strategic plan. Data indicates areas where expectations of citizens are being met and areas where there is a need to more attention.”

Fielded in December of 2017, results from the telephonic survey revealed citizens uphold high levels of trust and confidence in their elected officials. Few plan to leave the county in the near future; a clear majority would recommend the county to others as a place to live, work, raise children, and retire; perceptions of current quality of life versus five years ago and expected quality of life five years from now have never been higher.

The study continues to point to areas of requested improvements by segments of the county population—namely traffic congestion and job availability. Traffic has consistently been a significant expectation gap since the baseline study, while job availability dissatisfaction has become less pronounced within the data set as a whole and tends to inversely correlate with age and education.

Commissioner Dave Eggers commented regarding job availability within the county, “There’s a real opportunity here to merge the needs for some companies to start backfilling positions with a group of people who have been frustrated by the job search or by high school graduates entering the workforce seeking a path. We’re getting a real statement from our residents that this is an area we can probably ramp up.”

To access the report, visit: http://www.pinellascounty.org/strategicplan/surveys.htm.