SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) – More than 15,000 Suncoast residents participated in the Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s 2025 Regional Scan, naming the top strengths and biggest concerns of the region.

The results identified affordable housing, protecting the natural environment and helping people in times of crisis as the top priorities for the region. The findings are based on input from over 1,500 residents across Sarasota, Charlotte and DeSoto counties.

Top priorities

Affordable housing ranked first at 57%, the region’s top concern across all demographics. Residents listed rising costs and limited availability as major blockades. Only one-quarter of this group reported that this directly affects their own household, indicating it is widely viewed as a broader community challenge.

Protecting the natural environment ranked second at 36%. Roughly three out of four respondents who prioritized environmental issues said their concerns came from personal experience or observation, including overdevelopment at 83%, loss of wildlife habitat at 47%, red tide at 45% and flooding at 40%.

Helping people in times of crisis ranked third at 32%. About 42% to 46% of respondents cited systemic barriers such as complex processes, delayed assistance and uneven access to government support as key concerns.

Community sentiment

The majority of respondents, 65%, selected issues that do not directly affect them personally, suggesting a strong sense of shared community responsibility.

Nearly half of all respondents indicated that they sometimes or never feel like they belong. Among them, 40% cited a lack of local government listening, and 35% said difficulty finding common ground with others socially, politically and culturally contributed to that feeling.

Households with children under 18 earning less than $150,000 identified affordable housing as the top concern at 51%, followed by public schools at 34% and access to quality and affordable childcare at 29%. Nearly all caregivers, 98%, said childcare costs are too high, often forcing tradeoffs such as reducing work hours, leaving jobs or relying on informal care.

Gulf Coast Community Foundation is committed to sharing the findings broadly throughout the community to guide and inspire ongoing conversations that aim to result in actionable outcomes. The full Regional Scan results are available at gulfcoastcf.org/readytoact.