Survey shows downtown changes residents want: Greater variety of businesses, more entertainment top list
|
That was the general consensus of 384 people who responded to questions that asked residents to ponder strengths, weaknesses and quality of life in the downtown area. The results were interpreted by a marketing professor at Tennessee Tech’s College of Business Administra-tion at the request of Main Street McMinnville.
Main Street McMinnville Director Amy Jo Stanford said she was surprised some of the items described in the survey are already being worked on.
“Pleasant surprises were that people really like the special events downtown and they do want to come out more,” Stanford said. “They had some really good ideas like for live music and community theater, which we had thought would be a draw but you’re never certain until you do a survey like this. The Park Theater is being redone and that will provide music and community theater, so that is really good.”
In a written summary of findings, Tennessee Tech’s Dr. Julie Pharr specifically concluded:
• Residents believe the Court Square park is downtown’s best feature and the courthouse is a strong second feature;
• Residents believe rundown buildings and lack of business variety are downtown’s greatest weaknesses;
• Residents would be more likely to patronize new downtown businesses if they were family restaurants, department stores or movie theaters. They would be least likely to patronize beer taverns, appliance stores or video rental stores;
• Residents would be most likely to attend live music events, community theater shows or street festivals downtown as new or special events and would be less likely to attend new downtown special events if they were to be cooking contests, car shows or symphonic music performances;
• Adding new stores and businesses, or improving existing buildings, may be some of the most important improvements downtown can make to attract a larger number of people;
• Residents get their information about downtown businesses and events primarily from the Southern Standard or the radio.
One surprise, Stanford noted, is that parking wasn’t more of an issue.
“I guess really, people feel like the biggest issues are rundown buildings and the lack of variety in the businesses downtown,” she said.
The survey was initiated by Main Street McMinnville’s Economic Restructuring Committee and was planned as a random survey of Warren County residents. Data gathered was from 242 telephone respondents and 142 respondents chosen spontaneously from around the community.
Stanford said the survey results will be used as a tool to help promote and recruit businesses downtown.