ISU students are more interested in Campustown redevelopment than other Ames residents, according to the 28th annual Ames Residential Satisfaction Survey. The report, which focuses on issues in the Ames community, was presented to the City Council on Tuesday night.

The city mailed questionnaires to randomly selected residents, and then sent the same survey to a random list of ISU students via e-mail. The response rate for the ISU student group was 69.9 percent, compared to 33 percent of other residents who replied.

Susan Gwiasda, city of Ames public relations officer, said the ISU student response rate was so high that the city staff had to narrow down the surveys in order to have results that were not skewed by student opinion.

Gwiasda was glad to see the student response was higher than expected.

Gwiasda said the student reaction to the survey could be attributed to the fact that it was generated through e-mail. Besides the online version being more convenient for people to answer, the city was able to send out more than one e-mail to the student list, which encouraged participation in an easy and cost-efficient manner.

The final report was taken from 447 residents and 281 students.

The first of the issues in the survey was housing. The number of people who own their residence as opposed to renting is about equal, according to the survey. However, the results showed that homeowners tend to be older, while 97 percent of those under the age of 25 are renters. Of the ISU students who took the survey, 85 percent rent their property.

Another question was how the city budget should be allocated on the different city services. The top priority participants wanted to see more money being spent on is the transit system, a response that increased significantly from the survey results in 2009.

“This might be due to the fact that 56 percent of the respondents use CyRide, and the increase in student participation in the survey,” according to the report.

The survey showed an increase in the frequency of CyRide use. Out of the total residents who answered the survey, 24 percent use CyRide two to six times per week, compared to 15 percent in 2009.

A new question added to the survey this year was about the importance of future community projects being developed. Based on the results, the issue considered to be most important is Campustown redevelopment, with the Campustown parking ramp generating the second-most interest.

The survey showed ISU students are more interested in the Campustown renovations than non-ISU students. The Ames Public Library expansion is ranked third of the projects listed in the questionnaire, with 56 percent of respondents saying it’s important.

The reason for this disinterest in the library expansion could be tied to the fact that only one-third of Ames Public Library users are ISU students, according to the survey. Students responded that they are able to use other sources and/or they do not have time to go to the library.

In sample comments from the survey, students suggested other potential projects needed in the community, including increased lighting in dark streets to enhance safety in those areas, improvements with ice and snow management, and more bike lanes.

Gwiasda said the survey was done in the spring of 2010, before the summer floods in Ames, so there may be a difference in public opinion now in terms of city maintenance and budget allocation.

ISU students reported that e-mail is the best method to receive public information, with websites listed as second best. Yet as a whole, residents said receiving a letter is the most popular means of communication, meaning many non-students prefer traditional mail over e-mails.

This goes with the survey results showing that full-time students are more likely to have Internet access in their homes than non-full-time students. The average age of residents with Internet is 38 years, while residents without Internet have an average age of 58 years.

However, Gwiasda said, those without Internet access are a “shrinking population.” The report displays a slight increase in the number of households in Ames with Internet every year.

There is a difference between students and non-students in terms of the communication sources they turn to for information. Full-time ISU students said the Iowa State Daily is more useful, while the other residents said they prefer to use documents at the Ames Public Library, KASI/KCCQ radio, the Ames Tribune and CitySide.

The final question considered the overall service quality for the city of Ames. Based on the results, 97 percent of residents consider city services “good” or “very good.”

“Obviously we are hoping to see the numbers of the ‘very good’ [increase],” Gwiasda said. “That’s what we’re striving for.”