The City of Petal has long been noted for its top-ranking school district, the friendliness of its residents and wide variety of recreational activities.
Earlier this month, the city received another accolade when it was ranked one of the 10 Best Places to Live in Mississippi by www.onlyinyourstate.com, a travel and culture website dedicated to discovering the best of what each state in the nation has to offer. In particular, Petal was named The Safest City in Mississippi by the publication.
“I think it’s about the residents and the people – they have a certain expectation of what our town should be when it comes to safety and our police department,” Mayor Tony Ducker said. “We’ve invested heavily in trying to take care of our police department as much as possible within our budget constraints, and we have a lot of respect – and our community does as well – for our police department and our fire department.”
Petal shares the list with Bay St. Louis (Best Small Town), Pass Christian (Best City for Education), Long Beach (Best Place to Raise a Family), Madison (Best City Overall), Oxford (Best Mid-Sized City), Snow Lake Shores (Best Kept Secret), Hattiesburg (Best Place to Retire) and Ocean Springs (Best Seaside Town).
“Petal has a reputation for being a family-friendly and close-knit community with a relatively low crime rate compared to larger cities,” the website states. “The city government and local law enforcement agencies work hard to maintain public safety and provide services to residents.
“It’s just one of those places where safety and community go hand in hand.”
This latest ranking is far from the first time that Petal has been recognized on a national and statewide level. In late 2022, Only in Your State ranked the Friendly City as the Best City in Mississippi to Raise a Family, based in large part on the Petal School District, which has been ranked as the best school district in the state on numerous occasions.
Following behind Petal in that list was Madison, Hernando, Long Beach, Olive Branch, Brandon, Pearl, Grenada, Southaven and Ocean Springs.
“I think we have a high quality of life in the City of Petal,” Ducker said. “It’s a changing town, and there’s a lot of hard decisions that are going to be made over the next five to ten years.
“I think we’ve got a good group of folks that live in town that expect things be done a certain way, and I think that’s what makes it such a great community to live in. I think it’s about the residents and the people – they have a certain expectation about what our town should be.”
Ducker said the residents of Petal will not tolerate a town that isn’t safe, nor a school district that doesn’t perform at a high level.
“So it puts pressure on the leadership that’s in those positions, but that’s what we’ve come to expect as far as folks out at the school and folks with the city,” he said. “We’ve inherited winning teams, so the idea is that we should try and push the envelope and make it even better.”
Ducker said the ranking is particularly now that the city, which was incorporated in 1974, is getting ready to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
“There are so many things that are coming together,” he said. “What we’ve experienced in my 12 years as alderman, and over the last two and a half years (as mayor), is just so different.
“I think we’re positioned to take advantage of some of the good things that are taking place, but it’s still a marathon, so we have to make note of that as well.”
