Lone Tree Reporter, IA
05-24-06
Nicer places to walk a top priority for Lone Tree residents
By: Ray Weikal
Lone Tree residents apparently like to take walks and want to make their strolls
even more enjoyable with some local improvements.
Lone Tree is one of twelve communities seeking to improve its town as a
participant in the 2006 Iowa's Living Roadways Community Visioning Program.
Sponsored by the Iowa Department of Transportation, Iowa State University,
and Trees Forever, the program helps communities make informed decisions
about enhancements to local streets, sidewalks, trails, and community
entryways, as well as roadside landscapes.
Iowa State University conducted a survey of community residents during
February and March to determine the needs and desires of the residents
regarding local transportation improvements to enhance the town. The survey
consisted of nine questions focusing on physical activity, commuting habits,
relative importance of different kinds of enhancements and the willingness of the
respondent to contribute to implementing future projects.
Respondents also had the opportunity to request a copy of the survey results for
their community.
Walking is the most popular form of exercise among Lone Tree respondents
(76.40 percent), followed by biking (33.71 percent). Some engage in indoor
exercise such as weight training, aerobics, or using a treadmill (12.36 percent).
Others consider activities such as household chores or yard work as exercise
(7.87 percent).
Lone Tree residents had a very high response rate to the survey, according to
Sandra Oberbroeckling, who helped administer the questions and tabulate the
results.
"You guys had a response rate of 51.8 percent, which is really good," she said.
"We were shooting for around 40 percent, so they overachieved."
Oberbroeckling has noticed that communities with fewer people tend to have a
higher response rate.
"People from smaller towns have a little more stock in what happens," she
explained.
The majority of respondents drive to work alone (72.86 percent) and 10 percent
car pool. Some participants walk or bike to work (8.57 and 2.86 percent,
respectively). More than 70 percent of respondents work in a different city and 25
percent work and live in the Lone Tree.
Respondents ranked the importance of transportation enhancements that
address pedestrian mobility issues, environmental health issues, and aesthetic
issues. Lone Tree's respondents perceive aesthetic factors as most important,
particularly enhancing the downtown streetscape and screening unsightly views.
The questionnaire also presented the opportunity for respondents to make other
suggestions for improvements to Lone Tree. Aesthetic improvements such as
planting, maintenance, clean up, screening and noise reduction are the most
popular (37.33 percent). Survey Participants also suggested street and roadside
enhancements (34.67 percent) and recreation and open space enhancement
(26.67 percent).
The survey results suggest that a majority of respondents walk as their form of
exercise and they would enjoy aesthetic improvements such as downtown
streetscaping and screening of unsightly views.
Finally, respondents were asked what they are willing to contribute to the
successful implementation of improvements. More than 60 percent are willing to
volunteer their time and talent and 35.10 percent are willing to contribute
financially.
Results of this study provide research-based information to local steering
committee members and the visioning design team, enabling them to meet
resident needs and expectations when considering transportation enhancement
options.
If you would like to learn more about the survey results and become involved in
this community design process, you are welcome to join the local steering
committee for a mapping meeting on May 17 at 6:30 pm at the Lone Tree Fire
Station. Committee members will learn how to gather information about cultural
and historical resources, bioregional resources, and visual quality of Lone Tree.
Based on this information and the survey results, the committee will develop
specific project goals and a community needs statement to guide the design
teams.
For further information or if interested in participating in the visioning process,
please contact Jeff Lihs, visioning committee chair, at 319.335.9415, or Roger
Hunt, Trees Forever field coordinator, at 319.728.2064. To learn more about the
visioning program, please visit the Web site at www.communityvisioning.org. If
you would like a copy of the survey results, please e-mail Sandra
Oberbroeckling, at soberbr@iastate.edu.