Iowa State University launches third study on quality of life in state’s towns

Iowa State University researchers have begun a third two-year study to track changes in quality of life and social capital in 99 Iowa towns.

While the preceding studies have identified trends that signal a declining quality of life, residents of Iowa towns 'absolutely are satisfied” with their choice of residence, said Terry Besser, a professor of sociology and the team lead for the project.

A high percentage of respondents in each of the earlier studies - in 1994 and 2004 - said they would be sorry if they had to move, Besser said.

The project, funded by a grant from the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture, was designed to provide data that would improve the basis for policy decisions to stimulate rural development and economic growth.

It focuses on quality of life, the local social environment and community involvement.

The researchers first surveyed residents of the 99 towns in 1994, and then 10 years later in 2004, to gauge their opinions on local quality of life and other community features.

Questionnaires for the 2014 survey are going out this week, according to ISU sociologist Stephen Sapp, a collaborator in the project.

'Small towns in Iowa are holding their own. Key qualities like neighboring, trust and support have held good and constant,” Sapp said.

The new survey will include questions to gauge the resilience of small Iowa towns, he said.

'Obviously, small Iowa towns have suffered with a tough economy since 2008, and everyone wants to see how they have been affected and how they have responded,” Sapp said.

Based on the information gathered in the earlier surveys, researchers are expecting to find a high degree of resilience, he said.

The researchers selected communities with populations between 500 and 10,000. Participating Eastern Iowa communities include Atkins, Calmar, Center Point, Clarence, Columbus Junction, Elgin, Epworth, Garnavillo, Gilbertville, Hills, Hopkinton, Montezuma, Olin, Quasqueton, Traer, Waukon and What Cheer.

Among several other questions, the surveys ask residents to rate their town on a seven-point scale for several aspects of its social environment. In both surveys, friendliness got the highest rating, followed by safety and the town's trusting nature.

Respondents assigned the lowest ratings to tolerance and openness to new ideas.

From 1994 to 2004, ratings declined slightly for most aspects of the social environment, with residents typically rating their town as less friendly, less safe, less trusting, less well-kept, less supportive and less open to new ideas.

Researchers asked several questions relating to residents' sense of trust such as whether they are comfortable leaving their doors unlocked and whether they think members of their community would report a neighbor selling drugs.

Respondents' comfort with unlocked doors ranged from a low of 16 percent in Columbus Junction to a high of 64 percent in Elk Horn.

The range was similarly expansive for tolerance of drug-selling neighbors. In Epworth, for example, just 5 percent of respondents said community members would not report a neighbor for selling drugs, which compares with 42 percent of What Cheer residents.

That question sheds light on the balance small town residents assign to rule of law versus personal relations, according to Besser. In some cases it also may reflect fear of retribution, she said.

ISU's research can be seen online at http://www.soc.iastate.edu/rdiweb/PublicationsAndReports.htm.