Environmental Issues

1. Thinking of the environment, how would you rate the QUALITY OF THE TAP WATER for your home in your county?

Basic Interpretation: Fifty-three percent of Santa Rosa residents rate the quality of their tap water as Good or Excellent, compared to 38 percent of Escambia residents. This represents a statistically significant difference in opinion between residents of the two counties. For both counties, 43 percent rate the quality of their tap water as Good or Excellent.

2. Thinking of the environment, how would you rate the QUALITY OF THE WATER in the gulf, lakes, ponds, rivers and streams in your county?

Basic Interpretation: Thirty-five percent of Santa Rosa residents rate the quality of their open water as Good or Excellent, compared to 16 percent of Escambia residents. This represents a statistically significant difference in opinion between residents of the two counties. For both counties, 22 percent rate the quality of open water as Good or Excellent.

3. Thinking of the environment, how would you rate the QUALITY OF THE AIR in your county?

Basic Interpretation: Fifty-eight percent of Santa Rosa residents rate air quality Good or Excellent, compared to 40 percent of Escambia residents. This represents a statistically significant difference in opinion between residents of the two counties. For both counties, 46 percent rate air quality as Good or Excellent.

4. Thinking of the TOTAL ENVIRONMENT (land, air, beaches, water, etc.), do you think environmental quality in the NEXT 5 YEARS in your county will:

Basic Interpretation: Forty percent of Santa Rosa residents believe that environmental quality in their county will Decline or Decline Greatly over the next five years, compared to 37 percent of Escambia residents. This does not represent a statistically significant difference in opinion between residents of the two counties. For both counties, 38 percent believe that environmental quality will decline.

5. If it were available to you, would you eat seafood caught in local waters?

Basic Interpretation: Seventy-seven percent of Santa Rosa residents would eat seafood from local waters, compared to 68 percent of Escambia residents. This does not represent a statistically significant difference in opinion between residents of the two counties. For both counties, 71 percent would eat seafood from local waters.

6. Do you tend to favor or oppose offshore drilling off the coast of Northwest Florida?

Basic Interpretation: Forty-eight percent of Santa Rosa residents oppose drilling in local waters, compared to 44 percent of Escambia residents. This does not represent a statistically significant difference in opinion between residents of the two counties. However, Santa Rosa respondents were more likely to have a position on the issue than Escambia residents.

NOTE: This question was asked in a representative study of Escambia County in 1993. Data are presented from the 1993 study for purposes of comparison with the present 2003 study.

Basic Interpretation: Notably, Escambia residents in 2003 are more willing to temper their opinions by considering how many miles offshore the drilling would take place.

Governmental Issues

7. How would you rate the overall job performance of the following governmental bodies on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being the poorest rating and 10 being the best rating:

A. The Federal Government
B. The State Government
C. Your County Government
D. Your County Sheriff’s Department
E. Your City Government (If you live in a city)
F. Your Police Department (If you live in a city)

NOTE: This question was asked in a representative study of Escambia County in 1993. Data are presented from the 1993 study for purposes of comparison with the present 2003 study.

Basic Interpretation: Mean scores are shown above. All governmental entities scored above 5.0 (which can be interpreted as “neutral; neither good nor bad”) in the current 2003 study except for the Escambia County government. All Escambia County entities increased in perceived performance from 1993 to 2003 except the county government. Santa Rosa County residents would seem to have an overall more favorable perception of their county’s governmental entities, with a statistically significant difference from Escambia County residents for state, county, and city governments, as well as the county sheriff.

8. Do you favor or oppose combining the city and county governments?

Basic Interpretation: Fifty-one percent of Santa Rosa residents oppose the concept of combining city and county government, compared to 48 percent of Escambia residents. This does not represent a statistically significant difference in opinion between residents of the two counties.

NOTE: This question was asked in a representative study of Escambia County in 1993. Data are presented from the 1993 study for purposes of comparison with the present 2003 study.

Basic Interpretation: Notably, Escambia residents in 2003 are much more opposed to the concept of a unified city/county government. This seems to represent a shift from “Favor” to “Oppose,” since the proportion of those with no opinion has remained stable.

9. Compared to a year ago, would you say the overall traffic flow in your county is better, worse, or about the same?

Basic Interpretation: Eighty percent of Santa Rosa residents think that overall traffic flow in their county is worse than in 2002, compared to 57 percent of Escambia residents. This represents a statistically significant difference in opinion between residents of the two counties.

NOTE: This question was asked in a representative study of Escambia County in 1993. Data are presented from the 1993 study for purposes of comparison with the present 2003 study.

Basic Interpretation: Opinions of Escambia County residents about the condition of overall traffic flow in 2003 are virtually the same as opinions in 1993.

Educational Issues

10. Do you feel that sports are over emphasized, under emphasized, or have just the right amount of emphasis in your county’s high schools?

Basic Interpretation: Almost one-third believe high school sports are overemphasized. Slightly less than 10 percent believe sports are underemphasized. Nearly 50 percent believe sports have the right amount of emphasis. There are no differences between counties.

NOTE: This question was asked in a representative study of Escambia County in 1993. Data are presented from the 1993 study for purposes of comparison with the present 2003 study.

Basic Interpretation: There are few differences between the present 2003 study and the 1993 Escambia County study.

11. Do you feel the school superintendent should be elected or appointed?

Basic Interpretation: Over 75 percent of the panel believes that county school superintendents should be elected. There are no differences between counties.

NOTE: This question was asked in a representative study of Escambia County in 1993. Data are presented from the 1993 study for purposes of comparison with the present 2003 study.

Basic Interpretation: Opinions of Escambia County residents about the method of selecting the school superintendent show little difference between the present 2003 study and the 1993 study.

Current Issues

12. Are you aware of a proposal to build a maritime museum in Pensacola?

Basic Interpretation: Sixty percent of Santa Rosa and Escambia residents are not aware of any proposal to build a maritime museum in the area. There are no statistically significant differences across the two counties.

13. Would you be in favor of building a maritime museum in Pensacola if it were built with private funds?

Basic Interpretation: Eighty-seven percent of Santa Rosa and Escambia residents are in favor of building a maritime museum in Pensacola if it is privately funded. There are no statistically significant differences across the two counties.

Issues covered by the first survey
Environmental :: Governmental :: Educational :: Current :: Consumer Sentiment :: return to introduction