A recent survey of East Lansing shows student-resident relations are improving, and an overwhelming amount of residents rate the city as a nice place to live.

The survey was conducted by Adaptive Research Systems of East Lansing and cost $10,000.

According to city officials, one of the biggest finds was that people are satisfied with the quality of services the city provides, and many are willing to pay more taxes in order to keep those services.

"They want to see these things continue and the survey shows us they are willing to pay extra to protect city programs and services," said Jean Golden, deputy city manager.

But out of the 400 randomly selected registered voters who were interviewed for the survey, 5 percent polled were MSU students.

"It's unfortunate the number (of students) was so small." Golden said. "Because of the size of the sample you can't really draw an accurate conclusion of what students think."

Golden said most students do not have an opinion on city issues because they don't live in the city very long and usually aren't registered to vote in East Lansing.

"We are trying to catch the opinions of the permanent taxpaying residents in the city," she said.

Merchandising management senior Jenna Kaiser said she agrees with the results of the survey and feels East Lansing is a good place for anyone to live. Although she's moving to Florida to study marketing, Kaiser said she has always liked living in the city.

"Spring time and fall are so beautiful here," she said. "All my friends are here. It feels like home."

Kaiser said she thinks more students should have been interviewed, especially since after students graduate many continue to live in the city.

Sumiaya Assel, a psychology senior, also said she likes what East Lansing has to offer. She said she feels students' views shouldn't be overlooked.

"We're such a large portion of the population," she said. "East Lansing and MSU are synonymous."