As Sandy solidarity fades, fewer in N.J. are content

New Jersey residents tell pollsters they’re less satisfied with the quality of life in the Garden State.

 

Just over 60 percent of New Jersey residents surveyed by the Monmouth University Polling Institute now say the state is a good or excellent place to live.

Poll director Patrick Murray says that’s down from the 72 percent who gave the state a positive rating in December, just weeks after Superstorm Sandy.

“This drop that we’re seeing right now has wiped out any gains it made even before that storm hit,” Murray said. “The issue that we saw with Sandy was there was this feel-good attitude towards the state, that it was a good place to live, that people were pulling together, and that seems to have disappeared.”

Murray said the areas of the state hardest hit by Sandy saw the biggest drop. Residents are telling the pollsters things aren’t getting better as quickly as they’d like.

“After that big bump up because of Sandy and everybody pulling together, people are looking around in those particular regions and saying things really aren’t getting better as quickly as we would like,” he said. “And for the rest of the state, it seems to be kind of a return to normal. That post-Sandy sheen seems to have worn off.”

Residents’ perceptions of neighborhood safety are more positive, but there’s a decline in their rating of local schools.