JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — A group of community organizations and stakeholders recently released the quality-of-life survey for Jefferson Parish. Responders, for the most part, were pretty happy with their quality of life but there are still some areas of concern.
The Jefferson Business Council, the Parish Chamber, and the Jefferson Parish Economic Commission all worked together to conduct this survey. While a small percentage of the parish's population participated, organizers said it's still a great place to start keeping track of the community's needs and hold local officials accountable. The 2023 Jefferson Now survey revealed an average of 75% of residents in JP feel their quality of life is good or excellent.
Linda Nugent Smith a member of the JBC said, "In Jefferson Parish, we've done a pretty good job at maintaining, but we need to do more than maintain we need to grow, and we need to flourish."
The overview was broken down into two main categories, one where local government agencies got 50% or higher approval and the other where the agencies got less than 50% approval rate.
Some areas that agencies score high on include garbage pickup and disposal with 78%, levee and flood protection with 73% satisfaction, drainage received 66%, and litter in public spaces with 51%.
On the flip side traffic congestion, enforcement of building codes, and homelessness, before affordable housing for middle and lower-income residents all scored below 50% approval rate period. Smith said there was another part of the survey that revealed something they already knew, the parishes aging population. Smith believes a key part of continuing to grow the parish and move it forward is answering the needs of young people.
"A part of that, growing is young people. So, this survey told us what our young people want in order to maintain in order to keep them in Jefferson. Of course, they want parks and recreation, and nice bars and restaurants we all want that," Smith said.
Those are things Jefferson Parish Councilwoman, Jennifer Van Vranken said they're already working on.
"We are making a lot of improvements," said Van Vranken. "We're putting projects out to bid, and construction, kayak, and canoe launch out at Bucktown. Some new recreational opportunities, pushing forward on some pump stations and infrastructure improvements, really an array of things people are going to see coming out of the ground really good things in Jefferson Parish."
Van Vranken said the survey will be an asset to the council and was confirmation that they were moving in the right direction, especially with the council already working to address some areas of concern.
Van Vrancken said, "It made us feel like okay, we're on the right track. People are happy with the quality of life here. It was also really important to hear from them. What do we need to work on because it very specifically gives us a blueprint of what people expect if they're going to call Jefferson home for their businesses and homes. What do we need to work on to keep them and attract them here."
In the weeks after the survey was released, the Jefferson Parish City Council poured over $700,000 into a variety of projects, some aligned with the areas of concern from the survey. a bike path from Bonnabel to the Lake, Fat City improvements, resurfacing Transcontinental, and drainage improvements are just a few of the recently funded projects.
Smith said the groups who organized the survey plan on creating an action plan to formally submit to the council. They hope this survey can serve as a baseline for their future efforts.
"This was a message to the Parish. This is what we want. This is what we need," said Smith.
Van Vrancken said, "I think we are on track, and this will help us keep on track."
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