As executive director of Decatur 501 Club, Lauren Hunt heard about all the things Decatur lacks.

Decatur doesn't have night life. Decatur doesn't have bike trails. Decatur doesn't have ? a lake?

"Believe it or not, people don't even realize that we have a lake sometimes!" Hunt said.

Hunt said improving communication about all the things Decatur does have to offer is the key to changing those perceptions. But first things first. The 501 Club needed a complete picture of what people thought about the town.

Last fall, the organization conducted a survey that looked at people's perceptions of seven categories: cost of lifestyle, earnings, after-hour activities, learning, vitality, social capital and around town.

"We worked with Next Generation Consulting (of Madison, Wis.). They did something called 'handprinting the community,' " Hunt said. "They did that by comparing what young people thought about the value of these things and the perception of Decatur as related to that value."

Though all ages participated in the survey, 501 Club particularly was interested in the results from those in the club's age bracket, 21 to 40. Hunt said 86 percent of the 345 survey respondents were ages 22 to 35.

In general, Decatur was perceived favorably for its low cost of living and job opportunities. But Hunt said the town didn't fare so well in the vitality category.

"We really had concerns about our vitality," she said. "Public parks, trails, farmers markets and that sort of thing received a 94 percent value, but the perception of those things was only 40 percent."

And Hunt says that because Decatur provides all those opportunities (for instance, did you know that the farmer's market is now on Tuesday mornings as well as Saturdays?), the problem must be one of communication.

"People simply weren't getting the information they needed to realize that those things are available," she said.

Caleb Jump, a 25-year-old practice management liaison for Decatur Memorial Hospital, recognizes that issue. He often hears from other young professionals that there's not much to do in Decatur. So, he joined 501 Club as co-chair of the leadership committee to help remedy the problem.

"501 continues to provide opportunities for our young professionals to get to some of the locations for young people in town," he said. "Just last week, we had an event at Scovill Zoo, a little landmark in Decatur that sometimes goes unnoticed and is taken for granted by a lot of people. I think it's nice because it is a little bit smaller than a zoo like the one in St. Louis. For young professionals starting a family, it's tough to take a young child to a bigger zoo."

Twenty-four-year-old Justin Eichenauer, who recently moved back to Decatur to be the fourth generation in Eichenauer Services, agrees that Decatur offers a lot of positives. He appreciates the ease of getting to know other young professionals.

He and Jump feel the small town atmosphere eliminates a lot of the problems of big city life, such as traffic and long commutes. And they point out that if you do like to travel, Decatur's central location allows for a variety of day trips to many larger cities.

But Eichenauer said there's room for improvement.

"I do think that there could be more to do," he said. "Downtown is getting to the point that there's somewhere to walk around. But I think it's missing places like restaurants where you can sit outdoors. And I don't necessarily see downtown as a place where people come to walk around. It seems like they drive to the store that they want to go to and then leave."

Yet, Eichenauer recognizes how far the downtown area has come in recent years and hopes the trend will continue.

"Merchant Street is a cool street, and Robbies is a great place to go down and hang out," he said.

Eichenauer has just bought a house and plans to stay in Decatur permanently, and he looks forward to events such as Blues in Central Park and others publicized or put together by 501 Club.

Hunt said more than 50 people came to the zoo event.

"Not all of our events are just for ages 21 and older," she said. "Between one-third and one-half of the people that came were summer interns."

And that's a target group for Hunt.

After the survey, she and 501 Club focused on not only how to draw summer interns, but also how to maintain their presence in the community after the completion of their internship. 501 Club partnered with major corporations such as Caterpillar, Tate & Lyle, Archer Daniels Midland Co. and PPG and came up with the idea of a summer intern welcome packet.

"We've distributed over 150 to summer interns from all over the nation," Hunt said. "People don't know that much about Decatur, and we were hoping to combat the information and communication issues earlier."

Along with the welcome packet, 501 Club has put together special programming for interns, and Hunt has sent e-mails welcoming them to the area and making herself available for questions or concerns.

To further enhance communication between young professionals, the 501 Club Web site, www.decatur501.org, recently has become a platform for members to have open discussions about every topic imaginable, from dog grooming to work wear.

"If you can't attend an event, you can get online and discuss it or open your own discussion," Hunt said.

Since the survey, 501 Club's goal has become, more than ever, to communicate all the good things Decatur already offers the young people in the community.

"Now that we have a general idea of what they are looking for, we want to look at specific areas," Hunt said. "501 Club wants to be that partner to the community."