The University of New Orleans quality of life survey shows Orleans Parish residents aren’t as optimistic as they had been about the city’s future. Jefferson Parish respondents remain much more satisfied with their community.
The last time UNO conducted the quality of life survey was 2013. At that time, 54 percent of respondents believed the city would be a better place to live in five years. That dropped to 46 percent — the lowest since 2004. In Jefferson Parish, it’s 94 percent.
Officials fared a bit better. New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu has a 60 percent approval rating. And Police Superintendent Michael Harrison, who wasn’t in office for the last survey, pulled in a 62 percent approval rating.
Crime remains the top concern, despite improvements announced by Landrieu and Harrison.
UNO political science professor Ed Chervenak headed the survey of 403 voters in each parish, conducted in March.
“They have to be disappointed at City Hall. They’ve been working very hard to improve services but that’s not coming through; people perceiving them much more negatively almost across the board. Outside of control of abandoned houses and access to health services, everything else is moved in a negative direction," he said.
Landrieu’s push for removing four Confederate monuments in the city cost him support of white voters, and earned more from black voters.
“Given all the issues that are out there, and the city confronts some serious issues – crime being one of them, the poor condition of the roads, the economy – that it’s the monuments that are having the most influence," he said.
There is a margin of error of plus-or-minus just under 5 percent.
