Some very interesting results from a new Boston Globe poll.

Governor Deval Patrick remains a highly popular figure in Massachusetts, but his constituents are concerned about his performance as the state’s new chief executive after several stumbles during his first months in office, according to a Boston Globe poll.

Sixty-three percent of the 500 adults surveyed last week view the new Democratic governor favorably, which is comparable to his standing just before his landslide victory in November, when he received a 60 percent favorable rating in a Globe poll.

But despite Patrick’s continued popularity, only 48 percent approved of the way he is handling the job, while 33 percent disapproved — a relatively high number for a governor’s honeymoon period...

Other findings:

44 percent said Massachusetts is headed in the right direction — the same as in a March 2005 survey — while 56 percent said the state is off course. Younger adults were the most optimistic about the direction of the state, while Republicans were the most pessimistic.

High taxes were the biggest concern, with 19 percent calling it the most serious problem facing Massachusetts — nearly twice as many as in an August 2005 survey, when the cost of healthcare was the top concern. With Boston’s homicide rate increasing, crime and drugs shot up dramatically as a top concern, with 14 percent citing it as the leading problem, compared with only 4 percent in 2005.

UPDATE: More from Hub Politics, Cape Cod Living, Red Mass Group, the Globe and Herald.

SECOND UPDATE: From Lisa Wangsness and Jessica Van Sack.

THIRD UPDATE: More from Cape Cod Living and the Boston Herald.