A prince is born and America rejoices.

• Position: YOUR LIFE - American expectations for the New Year

Many Americans are optimistic that 2014 will be a better year for them, personally, than 2013, according to the AP-Times Square New Year's poll. Some 49% of the participants indicate that 2014 will be a better year than 2013, compared with 14% who say 2014 will be a worse year; 34% feel there will not be much difference between 2013 and 2014.

The poll, taken in December 2013, highlights the public's expectations for the New Year and captures their opinions about the most important news stories and most memorable pop culture moments of 2013.

The survey highlights the public's take on the ObamaCare rollout fiasco, death of Nelson Mandela, Federal government budget troubles, national debate over gun laws, bombings at the Boston Marathon, general politics, natural disasters, revelations about the National Security Administration, and more.

When rating the importance of 10 top news stories individually, 60% say that the government's inability to pass a budget was a "very" or "extremely important" one. The "glitched" implementation of ObamaCare comes in at 58%. The Boston Marathon bombing (52%) and the national debate over gun control laws (47%) are not far behind.

When asked separately to name the most important story of 2013, 26% point to the health care debacle. Rounding out the top three issues cited are the death of Mandela and the Federal government's budget troubles, including sequestration, the fiscal cliff, and the government shutdown; each was chosen by eight percent of respondents as the most important news story of 2013. Poll respondents also were asked to rate 10 of the top ("very memorable") pop culture events:

* The birth of Prince George, son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (38%).

* Bicyclist Lance Armstrong admits to using performance enhancing drugs (27%).

* San Francisco, Calif., transforms itself into Gotham City for the Batkid (23%).

* TV chef Paula Deen apologizes for using racially offensive language (19%).

* Miley Cyrus' "twerking" performance at the MTV Video Music Awards (17%).

* Online streaming services Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu release original programs (17%).

* The final season of...