If you've already found the perfect place in which to live, your satisfaction is probably based on three factors: very favorable living conditions, a great environment, and a positive attitude! The reason a positive attitude comes into play is that perfection, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder! No location is perfect all the time, but some places come closer to that ideal than others -- at least in the eyes of its residents.
For a variety of reasons, several communities in Florida have achieved a high approval ranking when it comes to standards like happiness, health, and overall enjoyment of life. In a report titled the State of American Well-being, the Gallup poll organization ranked 189 communities in the United States. Based on two years of telephone interviews, the surveys focused on fundamental quality-of-life issues, such as health, financial security, enjoyment of daily life, meaningful relationships, and feeling good about the community in which you live.
In a nutshell, the five key elements of well-being that are focal points in the Gallup-Healthways report are as follows: having a sense of purpose in life, social connections, financial stability and growth, pride in your community, and physical wellbeing.
Interestingly, Naples, Florida, ranks number one on the list. Its ranking is also shared with the nearby communities of Immokalee and Marco Island. There are several development projects and awareness campaigns underway to encourage healthier lifestyles among residents. A couple examples would be efforts to increase participation in walking groups and create more fitness paths and sidewalks for residents to take advantage of. More than 300 organizations, including schools, grocery stores, restaurants, work sites, and civic organizations, have played a role in the community wide collaboration there.
The report says that in 2015–2016, Naples had the country’s highest number of residents thriving in community well-being, the highest rates of healthy eating, the lowest rates of daily stress, and the lowest lifetime diagnoses of depression.
Other Florida communities that earned a top spot on the list include North Port, Sarasota, and Bradenton, all of which scored a #6 position; Port St. Lucie, which is ranked #30; and Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, which all share the #35 ranking. The Cape Coral–Fort Myers area earned a very respectable ranking of #38, and Gainesville is also well-ranked at #45. Trailing not too far behind are the communities of Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach (#51), Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford (#61), Jacksonville (#64), and Lakeland–Winter Haven(#86). The one other Florida community that made the top-100 list was Crestview–Fort Walton Beach–Destin.
Also worth mentioning for their inclusion are Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater (#115), Tallahassee (#120), Pensacola–Ferry Pass–Brent (#132), and the Palm Bay–Melbourne–Titusville area (#154).
The data for the nationwide survey was gathered from telephone interviews with 354,473 U.S. adults from January 2, 2015 to December 30, 2016
