TRENTON – Jersey tough?
According to the latest “quality of life’’ survey by Monmouth University, the Garden State Quality of Life Index stands at +26, up 5 points from April, which was a significant drop from other post-Superstorm Sandy measurements of +29.
Nearly 2-in-3 say New Jersey is either an excellent (19%) or good (46%) place to call home, compared to 1-in-3 who rate it as only fair (25%) or poor (10%). This 65% positive rating is up by 4 points from the April poll.
Seventy-two percent rate their own town positively.
Big gains were shown by residents of the Central Hills and Northern Shore regions. For Central Hills, the index climbed 14 points to +52; for Northern Shore, up 11 to +33.
But every yin there is a yang.
The Garden State Quality of Life Index Score stayed stable or declined slightly among Route 1 Corridor residents (up 2 points to +21), Garden Core residents (down 2 points to +19) and Northeast region residents (down 4 points to +27). The Route 1 Corridor region’s index score saw the largest post-Sandy drop in April; although the February index score for this region was exceptionally high compared to prior polls.
“Our quality of life index saw a big drop in April after a period of goodwill in Sandy’s immediate aftermath. It now looks like last spring’s negativity was temporary,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute.
