Citizen survey shows love of Longboat, but road issues remain

In the seven years Longboat Key citizens have filled out surveys issued by the town, there are several constants.

Longboat Key is a great place to live, but traffic is a problem.

The island is safe, but stormwater management can be improved.

“For the most part, the trends and the patterns have been pretty consistent,” Longboat Key Town Manager Howard Tipton said. “In that regard it’s a lot of reaffirming the information that we’ve had before.”

Even so, the survey is a tool the town uses to shape policy and evaluate its performance.

With the survey hitting mailboxes in January and the results shared with Town Commission in March, that gives various town departments time to evaluate the data and make their case for funding at the Town Commission strategic planning retreat on Monday, April 20.

“Every year we make (the survey results) part of our strategic planning session with the board,” Tipton said.

Consistent survey results also help the town make a case for state and federal funding.

“The consistency of the response helps because when you go to FDOT and we go to the (Metropolitan Planning Organization) meetings, we’re able to share that the No. 1 priority for our residents is better access to the mainland and traffic flow,” Tipton said. “We’re able to demonstrate that. We’re not just saying that, it’s not just how I feel. And oh by the way, for seven years in a row it has been their top concern. It does help us. Even though the progress is slow, it does help us in these conversations.”

There were some new findings in the annual survey, thanks in part to new questions being introduced. Many dealt with projects the town has either begun or for which it is in the initial planning stages.

One example is a new-to-2026 question that asked respondents whether they support “accelerating the development” of a multiuse trail parallel to Gulf of Mexico Drive. Nearly half (47%) of respondents responded yes, 24% said no and 29% said they were not sure.

“I’m encouraged by the fact that 47% said yes right off the bat. And that’s saying yes without the town really going out and really advertising what this is about or why we’re asking the question. It was just an immediate response,” said Mayor Debra Williams. “I find that very encouraging.”

The survey was conducted collaboratively between the town and University of South Florida’s Florida Institute of Government. On March 23, USF Public Affairs Associate Professor Stephen Neely gave a brief rundown of the results to Longboat Key Town Commission.

The survey had a good response rate, with 1,056 people completing the survey. Neely said that represents about a 14% response rate among residents.

“I know that might not sound like a huge number, but it’s a really good number,” Neely said. “We have paid attention to Longboat Key’s sample over the years, and it is a highly representative sample. There’s a lot of confidence we have that these numbers you’re looking at are really accurate reflections of the views and experiences of the public.”

The good

The overall sentiment from those living on Longboat Key is good, and survey results year after year back that up. It is paradise after all.

When rating the overall quality of life, 98.9% of respondents gave Longboat Key an excellent (66.5%) or good evaluation.

The safety, overall reputation and aesthetics of Longboat Key also got sterling reviews. Responses showed that 81% of residents were very satisfied with the overall safety of the community, with only 0.1% who said they were very unsatisfied. Asked about the overall reputation of Longboat Key, 73% were very satisfied and 25% were satisfied.

The Police and Fire Department both have overwhelming support from the community. Only 2% of residents said they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the quality of service from the Police Department, and 86% said they were very satisfied or satisfied.

The Fire Department and ambulance services received an 81% satisfaction rate and less than 1% said they were dissatisfied. All other town departments received positive sentiment from respondents.

Residents also expressed satisfaction with elected leaders. With 45% of survey respondents saying they were satisfied with the job the Town Commission is doing and 30% very satisfied, this year’s survey showed the highest grade the Commission has received.

“Most of our elected officials run unopposed. We don’t have many contested elections, and I think that’s because there’s a general satisfaction in how things are,” Tipton said. “If they weren’t, we’ve got the right people in this community who would voice their concerns.”

The bad, the town’s response and limitations

Sometimes getting off Longboat Key in the afternoon feels like a fool’s errand, and the frustration residents feel about traffic is not new.

In the seven years the town has done its citizen survey, traffic has continuously been described as the No. 1 issue the town faces.

This year, 43% of residents said they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with traffic flow and congestion on the island. Only 24% of residents responded being satisfied or very satisfied with traffic flow.

Among open-ended comments from respondents, hundreds mentioned traffic, with seasonal traffic described as “bad and getting worse,” “terrible,” “intolerable,” “ridiculous” and “leading me to consider moving off LBK,” to name a few.

The town is well aware of resident sentiment on traffic, but both Tipton and Williams say relief is hard to obtain. Tipton explains that the town’s main road, Gulf of Mexico Drive, is a state road and that traffic issues extend off the island both north and south. Williams said some of the possible solutions that have been brainstormed to fix traffic may be “pie in the sky” ideas like building a third bridge to the island.

“There’s really not much that we can do,” Williams said. “I think that anybody who has served on this commission or past commissions would love to say ‘yeah, we have a solution and we’re going to take care of it.’ But it is cyclical. If you were to ask someone in June or July is traffic a problem, they’ll say no because it wouldn’t be at that time.”

Another survey topic that showed room for improvement was how respondents rated the town of Longboat Key as a place to work. Only 28% said Longboat Key was an excellent (10%) or good place to work. Williams said she believes there is a relation between that dissatisfaction and traffic flow.

“I think there is a direct correlation,” Williams said. “A lot of the Longboat Key employees, in the busy season they will park their car off island and bike or take a scooter so they don’t have to deal with that horrendous traffic trying to go north over Longboat Pass and Coquina (Beach) to get home… I think retention can be a very, very big hurdle. You hire someone in May and it’s not that bad, but when January and February come around, it’s a problem.”

Though all town departments received high marks in the survey, some departments showed higher levels of dissatisfaction than others. The highest dissatisfaction rates were 17% for stormwater management and 13% for street/sidewalk maintenance and the permitting department. Planning and Zoning Director Allen Parsons, whose responsibilities include permitting, said his department may get bad feedback because of the nature of the interactions the department has with residents.

“Sometimes we’re the bearers of bad news to people. That could be notifying that there is a code requirement that may not be met and delivering that news to someone. In other cases we receive complaints about things, and code may allow for the things that people have complained about, so there can be disappointment there,” Parsons said. “For me, I think one of the big takeaways is the importance of how we interact with people and the importance of explaining things clearly to people.”

This was also the first year the town sent out two surveys. The small business survey went out at the same time, but had a low response rate. So low that Neely, when presenting the data to the Commission, said he did not want to present the results of the small business survey because the responses would not be representative of the community, but only of a certain few. Just 16 of the more than 230 surveys sent out received a response.

“The key thing from a statistical standpoint is that 16 responses do not allow us to draw responsible inferences,” Neely said. “It would be irresponsible of me to tell you ‘business community believes x, y or z,’ based on having this small of a sample of them.”

Neely said it may be a good idea to do the small business survey at a different time than the citizen survey. Tipton said that lack of response is a finding in itself, showing that communication around the small business survey could be improved. Focus groups among business owners may also be a strategy.