News Roundup

N.O. Residents Worry About Leadership More Than Crime

CityBusiness
May 9, 2007

NEW ORLEANS — The University of New Orleans today released results of a public opinion survey in which citizens said dissatisfaction with city government and The Road Home program is a bigger problem than crime.

“The most surprising finding in this study is that, for the first time in 20 years, something rivals crime as the biggest problem facing New Orleans,” researchers wrote in the “Keeping People” 2007 Quality of Life Survey in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes.

UNO conducted the survey from March 15 to April 5. The survey is a continuation of an earlier quality of life survey UNO conducted in November.

In the latest study, a total of 419 interviews were conducted in Jefferson Parish and 302 in Orleans Parish. Twenty-six percent of the respondents in the Jefferson Parish survey group were African-American. Forty-nine percent were African-American in the Orleans Parish survey group.

In Orleans Parish, 29 percent of citizens said the second-biggest problem was “crime/do not feel safe.” That’s down from 31 percent in October and 46 percent in June 2004.

In October, only 18 percent of Orleans Parish residents said dissatisfaction with city government and The Road Home was the biggest problem.

In Jefferson Parish, the largest percentage of respondents, 46 percent, said “crime/do not feel safe” is the biggest problem, up slightly from 45 percent in October and way up from 24 percent in June 2004.

Also in Jefferson Parish:

• 9 percent said government/politics was the biggest problem.

• 8 percent chose levees/flood control.

• 6 percent chose availability of housing.

• 7 percent chose traffic.

The study also found fewer residents are “very likely” to leave than in October. In Orleans Parish, 12 percent said they were very likely to leave in the next two years, down from 17 percent in October. In Jefferson Parish, it was 14 percent, down from 17 percent.

The number of residents “somewhat likely” to leave in two years remains 15 percent in Orleans Parish, unchanged from October.

But in Jefferson Parish, the number of residents somewhat likely to leave increased to 20 percent from 15 percent in October.

The survey also asked “What is the most important thing that government can do to make you more likely to stay?” The results were:

• Reduce crime: Orleans, 26 percent; Jefferson, 27 percent.

• Fix levees/pumps: Orleans, 6; Jefferson, 10 percent.

• Employment opportunities: Orleans, 7 percent; Jefferson, 10 percent.

• More action from government: Orleans, 9 percent; Jefferson, 0 percent.

• Road Home funds available: Orleans, 8 percent; Jefferson, 0 percent.

• Nothing/Don’t know: Orleans, 8 percent; Jefferson, 20 percent.

Sixty-three percent of residents in Orleans Parish said they could move out of Louisiana. In Jefferson Parish, 54 percent said they could move out of Louisiana.