Members of the Atlantic City Council, Wednesday evening, received a report from Alexis Fleener, Lead Planner at SWIPCO (Southwest Iowa Planning Council), with regard to a community-wide survey that was conducted recently, via social media and the mail. The response rate of 13% fit within the norm of similar surveys.

182 responses were from those under the age of 50, while 303 came back from those who were age 50 and over. The vast majority (153) were retired, 80 respondents were employed in a managerial, business, science and arts occupations, while 69 came from the service sector. Alexis said “We received disproportionately more surveys from people who generally made more of an income,” ($50-60k/year) than those who made less.

Alexis Fleener

The survey’s for Atlantic were designed to try and help determine what priorities residents have as far as improving and growing the City of Atlantic. Fleener said one of the elements of the survey was with regard to Housing survey. The conditions were determined by SWIPCO staff rating every home in the City limits, based on the conditions of the home.

The teams took two business days and rated the homes on a scale of 1-to 5, with 1 being excellent (brand new condition) and 5 being Dilapidated (appears to be uninhabitable and beyond repair). In between ratings were good, average and poor.
Fleener said they drove 81 miles of City streets to examine homes from the Street perspective. The results showed about 175 homes were rated Excellent, but the vast majority of homes (just under 1,200) were in Good condition.

Close behind were the number of homes rated Fair (1,100). Homes listed as Poor amounted to 162, while 11 homes were deemed to be Dilapidated. There were also 97 vacant lots. The survey showed 82% of those who responded lived in single-family housing, while 14% reported living in multi-family housing (apartments, condos and townhomes). When it comes to the current condition of the City as far as services are concerned, the top three categories were Fire Department, Police Department and Public Library. The lowest rated were road conditions, drainage/flood control, childcare and healthcare.

Many respondents to the survey skews more negatively when it comes to the number of rental properties available, as opposed to homes for sale, with 178 saying the rental market is “Poor,” while buyers rated homes for sale as in between “Adequate,” and “Does not meet the needs.” A vast majority of the respondents were happy with the quality of life here, that they feel connected to the City, feel safe and that City leaders are responsive to citizens’ needs.

About 75 people indicated they would likely be moving away from Atlantic in the next 1-to 3-years, while a slightly lesser number of respondents weren’t sure. As far as activities, most of the respondents wanted a bigger/better pool and/or splash pad, followed by more youth activities and additional bike/walking paths. The next steps include additional public engagement/input, goal settings, bringing together certain groups to act as “Topic groups,” such as Utilities & Transportation, Public Safety and Emergency Management, Housing and Economic Development, and Community Interest (Health/Education/Art and Culture).

Meetings for those groups, which are open to the public, will be set for the coming months, with additional information still to come.