JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A quarter of those surveyed for a recent University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL) poll said the most important problem facing Jacksonville is housing costs.
Among the 742 registered Duval County voters surveyed, crime came in a distant second as the top issue at 12%, followed by education, transportation and infrastructure, each with 9%. The economy and property taxes each received 8%.
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When asked about the new poll on Tuesday, Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan said she can’t remember the last time a poll was done where crime wasn’t number one in terms of people’s concerns.
“I think that speaks to what a great job JSO has done in terms of bringing the violent crime numbers down, but I think also it speaks to the level of pain that our community is feeling over affordable housing. So we really have to continue to address that, and this gives us a great impetus to continue to do that,” Deegan said.
Dr. Sean Freeder, UNF professor of political science, added some more context to the survey shift.
“The further shift toward economic concerns likely reflects not only pressing state and local concerns like homeowner’s insurance and housing supply, but also general national concerns about inflation and how key markets are reacting to the Trump administration’s tariff policies,” Freeder said.
She added that there is a lot more the city can do to address the issue of affordable housing.
“We’re looking at all sorts of things,” Deegan said. “We’re trying to increase the number of affordable housing units, I believe this year we’ll have more than 4,000 coming online, but we’re looking at more programs. We’re looking at an affordable housing trust fund, perhaps. We’re looking at other ways that we can continue to move those numbers, because clearly it’s at the top of mind of the folks in our community.”
