High Street and University District Survey Questionnaire: E-Mail Results

This electronic mail survey of Ohio State students was done to determine their attitudes about High Street adjacent to the university. The Campus Partners Student Advisory Board prepared the basic survey questions. University Technology Services developed and placed the survey questionnaire on a university web site. UTS then obtained the electronic mail addresses of 1,031 Ohio State students enrolled on the Columbus campus and who had activated their e-mail accounts. UTS then sent an e-mail message on Feb. 12, 1999, to the students informing them of their selection to participate in this survey of student attitudes. The e-mail message directed the students to complete the survey on the web page by Feb. 19, 1999. The e-mail message included a "link" to the web site. Only three e-mail messages bounced back as undeliverable. Responses were received from 219 students.

1. Reflecting on your experience as an Ohio State student, please rate your satisfaction with the following aspects of High Street in the University District. Please rate each aspect from 1 to 7 with "1" being "very unsatisfied" and "7" being "very satisfied." The mean response is listed. Note that the lowest satisfaction is with parking availability and cleanliness of the environment, while the highest is with cultural diversity.

• 4.04 Entertainment/social activities
• 3.68 Exercise/intramural activities
• 2.12 Parking availability
• 3.59 Housing
• 4.93 Retail shopping convenience
• 3.81 Retail shopping variety
• 5.00 Cultural diversity
• -- Personal safety (not listed on this survey)
• 3.04 Cleanliness of environment

2. What types of entertainment do you feel the University District needs more of or less of on High Street. Please rate each type on a scale of 1 to 7 with "1" being "much less" and "7" being "much more." The mean response is listed.

• 4.58 dance clubs
• 5.11 comedy clubs
• 4.71 movie theaters
• 4.31 pool halls
• 3.92 bars
• 3.39 arcades
• 5.26 concert halls
• 4.43 coffee shops

3. What types of restaurants do you feel the University District needs more of or less of on High Street? Please rate each type on a scale of 1 to 7 with "1" being "much less and "7" being "much more." The mean response is listed.

• 3.51 fast food
• 5.65 24-hour diner
• 4.44 family restaurants
• 4.66 fine dining
• 4.38 ethnic
• 4.94 bar and grill
• 5.20 café/deli
• 4.25 coffee shops

4. What types of retail stores do you feel the University District needs more of or less of on High Street? Please rate each type on a scale of 1 to 7 with "1" being "much less" and "7" being "much more." The mean response is listed.

• 4.24 convenience
• 4.68 fashion/clothing
• 4.53 leisure/athletic
• 4.02 home furnishings
• 5.33 grocery
• 5.00 pharmacy
• 4.43 hardware
• 4.52 gift shop
• 4.91 books (non-text book)
• 4.57 music
• 5.07 computer

5. How often do you visit businesses on High Street to shop? (Check one.)

• 1.4 % more than once a day
• 20.8 % once a day
• 24.1 % a few times a week
• 13.2 % once a week
• 29.7 % few times a month
• 8.5 % rarely
• 2.4 % never

6. How often do you visit businesses on High Street to eat? (Check one.)

• 1.9 % more than once a day
• 15.0 % once a day
• 20.1 % a few times a week
• 16.4 % once a week
• 35.0 % few times a month
• 7.9 % rarely
• 3.7 % never

7. How often do you visit businesses on High Street to socialize or seek entertainment? (Check one.)

• 10.0 % more than once a day
• 23.0 % once a day
• 30.6 % a few times a week
• 12.4 % once a week
• 20.6 % few times a month
• 3.3 % rarely
• 0.0 % never

8. What percentage of High Street in the University District should be national retailers, with 0% being "no national retailers" and 100% being "all national retailers." Please consider the total of restaurants, entertainment, and retail. (Check one.) The mean response was 48 %. Most responses were clustered between 40 and 60 % of High Street should be national retailers. Here is the percentage of respondents who selected each choice of percentage of national retailers:

• 2.3 % 0%
• 5.1 % 10%
• 9.8 % 20%
• 9.8 % 30%
• 12.1 % 40%
• 24.7 % 50%
• 14.0 % 60%
• 12.1 % 70%
• 6.5 % 80%
• 2.8 % 90%
• 0.9 % 100%

9. Please answer the following: I would visit and patronize High Street more often if it: (Check all that apply.) This is the percentage of those who responded to question 9 that checked each option. The percentages will add up to more than 100%. Note that all options appear to be significant factors. Cleanliness received the most responses.

• 69.9 % were cleaner
• 54.3 % were safer
• 64.4 % had a better variety of businesses
• 64.8 % had more parking available
• 46.5 % had a higher quality of retailers
• 64.8 % had stores I like to shop at

10. Many Ohio State offices serving students, such as the Registrar, Student Financial Aid, and Fees and Deposits, are located around the campus. If those offices were located with parking in a new development in the area of 11^th Avenue and High Street south of the law school, do you think that students would find that location more or less convenient? (Check one.) Three-fourths of the respondents felt such a location would be more convenient or as convenient.

• 41.3 % more convenient
• 33.3 % about the same
• 17.8 % less convenient
• 7.5 % don't know/no opinion

The following questions are used strictly for demographic information and to assure that the survey fairly represents the whole student body.

11. Do you have a car or other motor vehicle in the local Columbus area?

76.1 % yes

23.9 % no

12. Please check your race or ethnicity.

• 3.3 % Black
• 1.4 % Hispanic
• 13.1 % Asian/Pacific Islander
• 1.4 % Native American
• 70.6 % Caucasian (non-Hispanic)
• 10.3 % Do not wish to mention

13. Are you a female or a male?

44.1 % female

55.9 % male

14. How old are you? The years of age and percentages of respondents are: 18, 9.6 %; 19, 16.9 %; 20, 8.7 %; 21, 10.0 %; 22, 9.1 %; 23, 8.7 %; 24, 3.2 %; 25, 1.8 %; 26, 4.6 %; 27, 3.2 %; 28, 2.3 %; 29, 1.8 %. Those 30 and over constituted 15.7 %.

15. What is your marital status?

14.5 % married

83.2 % single (never married)

2.3 % divorced

16. How long have you attended Ohio State?

• 28.8 % less than 1 year
• 8.4 % 1 year
• 13.5 % 2 years
• 11.6 % 3 years
• 14.9 % 4 years
• 11.6 % 5 years
• 1.9 % 6 years
• 9.3 % more than 6 years

17. What is the zip code of your address at Ohio State?