Penn State students looking for a place to live downtown will soon have a new Web site that provides a way to match students' personalities to their living arrangements.

The Web site -- currently under construction and in the development stages -- is being created by a group of Penn State students in a Science, Technology & Society 497B (Creativity, Innovation and Change) class.

Meesha Ahuja (senior-biology and psychology) said the project is in response to a number of issues students face when searching for an off-campus apartment.

"Recently, we read about how 1,200 students didn't get housing contracts this year," Ahuja said. "We weren't able to find a Web site that had a list of apartments, townhouses and places to live all in one place."

In addition, Ahuja said she and her group members are making a search tool on the site that would allow students to find apartments based on personal preferences.

Tools included will go beyond entering the number of bedrooms and bathrooms a prospective tenant desires, Ahuja said.

"A personality search will be included," Ahuja said. "For example, Beaver Canyon is a wild atmosphere as opposed to West Campus."

Julie Chan (senior-marketing) said the purpose is to create a Web site that will match students with housing options that fit their personalities and living styles.

Other search criteria that will be included are noise, distance from campus, cost, party atmosphere, maintenance and general satisfaction.

Ahuja said information on those categories will be collected through surveys of current residents in more than 200 complexes.

An option for online responses and ratings will also be included in the design, she said. Students who are current tenants will be able to rate their housing for others to read.

Adam Steele (senior-aerospace engineering) said current sites lack rating systems and search options.

Although the Web site can already be accessed at www.psupads.com, the information is not yet available.

Ahuja said surveying will begin this week, and the group hopes to have the Web site operational in three weeks.

"We will be surveying people at locations on campus," Ahuja said "We'll post good things and bad things ... so when people search, they can read reviews."

Pete Woodland (senior-electrical engineering) said the Web site also aims to help students who are transferring from Commonwealth Campuses.

"Branch campus transfers often know nothing about housing options available to them," Woodland said.

Off-Campus Student Union (OCSU) President Ryan Bennington said a link to www.psupads.com will be available on the Off-Campus Student Union Web site and information about the site will soon be in the Off-Campus Student newswire.

"It's a great idea that the OCSU tried to pursue earlier, but we weren't able to, so it's great to see that other students are on the same page as we were," Bennington said. "OCSU is in support of the initiative and will be doing what they can to help with publicity to make sure students can access the Web site."

Association of Residence Hall Students member Adam Burget (sophomore-music education) said the association will be adding a link to www.psupads.com to its list of recommended sites.

"Their goals are right, and it seems like a good idea, and we are very willing to work with that group," Burget said. "It will have search criteria, you can just search and find the perfect place to live."