Nearly four in five Ankeny residents believe the city is growing too fast, but 97 percent say they would recommend living there, according to a new survey.

Ankeny is the fourth-fastest-growing city in the United States, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. It has added nearly 17,000 people since 2010 and is now the ninth-largest city in Iowa.

All that growth can add headaches, like more traffic, but overall Ankeny residents give the city high marks in areas such as economy, image, safety and recreational opportunities.

"I think it's impressive that we're the fourth-fastest-growing city in the country, but yet a higher percentage of people today think Ankeny's a great place to live," City Manager David Jones said.

Ninety percent of the 444 Ankeny residents who responded to the survey said they plan to remain in the community for at least five years.

But 78 percent said the city has grown "somewhat too fast" or "much too fast" over the past two years. Twenty-two percent said Ankeny has been growing at the right pace.

A much larger number — more than half — said retail growth and job growth are occurring at a good rate.

Ankeny Mayor Gary Lorenz said Monday that he's pleased with the survey's results.

"You want to get the kind of growth that you want, and I think we're doing that," he said. "We're not getting industries that we don't want, or development that we don't necessarily want. I think we're doing a good job of monitoring how we're growing."

Ankeny surveys residents about the direction of the community every two years.

This year's survey, conducted by National Research Center Inc., asked residents how they feel about a number of areas, including quality of life, community characteristics, city government and growth.

Amy Baker, the city's communications director, said 444 respondents is a significant enough sample size to consider the survey representative of the community.

Ankeny's population grew to 62,461 residents, according to 2017 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, an increase of 6.4 percent from the previous year. That made it the fastest-growing city with more than 50,000 residents in the Midwest.

The Des Moines suburb has ranked among the fastest-growing cities in the country for three straight years. It ranked 14th in 2016, third in 2015 and fourth last year.

Jones said he is encouraged that more Ankeny residents said they would recommend the city to someone this year than in earlier surveys. The 97 percent who said they would recommend the community is well above national benchmarks, according to the survey report.

Among other survey results, more than 90 percent of respondents said they are pleased with the city's police department, fire department and emergency medical services.

When asked what they would most like to see come to the community, 17 percent said more parks and recreation amenities, including trails. Thirteen percent want more entertainment opportunities, such as a miniature golf course, while 12 percent want more retail, such as a shopping mall.