Clearwater is a pretty nice place to live, survey says

CLEARWATER ― The city’s downtown is struggling. It’s getting harder to find affordable housing. But overall, Clearwater is a pretty nice place to live.

These conclusions and more can be drawn from a recent city-commissioned survey of Clearwater residents about the quality of life in Tampa Bay’s third largest city.

The survey asked 504 adults dozens of questions about their experience living in Clearwater. The answers were compared to other cities around the country. The poll, which was conducted through the National Research Institute and the International City/County Management Association’s National Community Survey, cost city taxpayers $26,455.

Check out the survey here:

In response to most of the questions, Clearwater residents said they felt how most Americans do about their hometowns. Nearly four in five residents described the overall quality of life in Clearwater positively. Similarly, 81 percent of residents said they’d recommend Clearwater as a place to live. About 68 percent said they thought Clearwater had a positive image. All of those numbers were in line with national benchmarks.

The areas where the city rated less favorably were not a surprise. Just 32 percent of responders said the city offered a vibrant downtown. About 44 percent said Clearwater had a “sense of community.” Both of those figures were lower than the national benchmarks derived from other city surveys.

Related story: Clearwater wants residents downtown. This study shows why that’s not happening.

Clearwater also participated in this survey in 2008, 2014 and 2017, which gave researchers the ability to track how responses have changed over time. In 2017, 38 percent of residents said they felt Clearwater offered affordable quality housing. That number dropped to 27 percent in 2019. But still that figure is in line with the national benchmark.

In other areas of the poll, residents’ perceptions didn’t totally align with reality. About 80 percent of residents said that they vote in local elections at least sometimes. But the turnout at the most recent local election was just 57 percent ― and that was during the high-turnout 2018 midterm elections.

Related story: Clearwater voters resoundingly reject strong mayor government

Still, the survey showed that Clearwater residents are happy overall with their city. Over 80 percent of respondents rated the following items positively in the survey: the city’s public libraries; yard waste pickup service; EMS services; the fire department; Clearwater as a place to visit; the safety in their neighborhood and Clearwater as a place to retire.

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The survey was conducted by mailing 3,000 forms to households all over the city. The questionnaire was offered in Spanish and English.

Methodology:

1. The margin for error was four, meaning any overall percentage cited in the poll could be off by plus or minus four points.
2. Although the responding group was not wholly representative of Clearwater, the statisticians in charge of the survey weighed the data to bring it into line with the city’s demographic numbers.

Check out the results for yourself below.