The Bradenton-Sarasota area is not only a lovely place for tourists to visit, the residents who live here love it as well.

"I love it here,” said Julie Smith. "I've lived here my whole life. It's nice and I'm sure everyone enjoys the weather and parks, the beaches."

Smith isn’t the only resident happy to live in Bradenton. According to a new Gallup-Wellbeing poll, the Bradenton-Sarasota area is the most satisfying place to live in Florida.

The community ranked No. 23 in the nation. Mike Smith said he’s not surprised.

"I've been here over 35 years,” he said.  “I came down to visit after college and stayed and never left."

The Bradenton resident said his home offers everything you’d ever need.

Those in the survey said the same thing, citing a good quality of life and job opportunities. Residents also said they enjoy the beautiful parks, like the city’s new Riverwalk, which opened in October 2012, and the area’s beaches, arts, sporting events and more.

Mayor Wayne Poston said they’ve worked very hard to improve the area, and that things will only be getting better.

“We have more to come,” said Poston.  “We have a lot of things that are on the plate that we are working on.”

The Tampa/St. Pete/Clearwater area is the closest community on the list to Bradenton. It's rated No. 6 statewide.

Manatee County residents said although it's pretty similar, traffic is the biggest difference.

"More of a hometown feeling, less traffic, less people,” said Sandy Brophy.  “I know I prefer not to deal with congestion in Tampa."

It’s a small city residents said they’re happy to call home.

“I've never even thought about moving away,” said Smith.

Statewide the Naples-Marco Island area came in as the No. 2 most satisfying place to live. Tallahassee was rated as the lowest.

Nationwide, the Fort Collins-Loveland area of Colorado scored the highest. The lowest was Rockford, Illinois.

To see the complete list, visit: http://www.gallup.com/poll/168485/city-satisfaction-highest-fort-collins-loveland-colo.aspx.