By David Vitrano

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – A story appeared in the media recently saying that an 18-month recession in the U.S. ended in June 2009.

Despite this news, real-world effects have been slow to materialize.

Accordingly, lat week, L’Observateur asked visitors to its website to answer the following question: The recent dismal performance of the national economy has many concerned about the future rebound. How long do you think it will take for the U.S. to get back on track?

One-third of respondents took a middle-of-the-road approach, choosing the option “three to five years.”

The other two-thirds of voters were split almost as evenly, with 36 percent choosing longer periods of time and 31 percent choosing shorter periods of time.

The next highest vote-getter was “one to three years,” which garnered nearly a quarter of the vote.

The only choice that did not receive at least 10 percent of the vote was “less than one year.” River Parishes residents may not be total pessimists when it comes to the economy, but they are not necessarily glass-half-full people either.

A full breakdown of results follows.

• 7 percent of respondents chose “Less than a year.”

• 24 percent of respondents chose “One to three years.”

• 33 percent of respondents chose “Three to five years.”

• 17 percent of respondents chose “Five to 10 years.”

• 19 percent of respondents chose “More than 10 years.”