After all the reports of devastation and despair from Hurricane Sandy, a new poll shows the storm may have had one positive effect.

72 percent of New Jersey residents surveyed by the Monmouth University Polling Institute say the Garden State is a good or excellent place to live. That’s the highest rating in nine years.

Poll director Patrick Murray says the Quality of Life Index actually rose after the hurricane.

 “Our polling on Sandy indicates that New Jerseyans feel that their fellow state residents pulled together, that their state institutions reacted positively in a way that was necessary to deal with this storm. All those things I think lead to the sense that hey this is a pretty good state to live in. We can weather this kind of storm.”

Murray says the only area where the Quality of Life Index fell was in Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties where Sandy did not cause as much damage as other parts of the state.