Survey data analysis on County downtowns under way

Tom Coke

With the completion of more than 550 resident surveys and nearly 2,500 customer origin surveys, the County’s Downtown Revitalization Project data analysis is under way.

The surveys – conducted in September on downtowns in Picton, Bloomfield, Wellington, Consecon and Rossmore – collected information on shopping patterns and trends, such as frequency of visits to downtown centres, shopping habits (both inside and outside of the downtown cores), suggestions for recreational activities or community events, and suggestions for businesses or services that would be a good addition to downtown cores.

Additionally, the customer origin survey identified “trade areas” for each community to identify the general catchment area of a business or region’s customer base.

“Knowing where your customers come from is essential for businesses to plan advertising and marketing efforts,” said Tom Coke, Downtown Revitalization Co-ordinator. “Survey data will inform the broader Downtown Revitalization Strategy for Prince Edward County, and will also be integrated into each of the five communities’ individual strategic plans. In addition, it will be provided to the Ministry of Agriculture Food & Rural Affairs to be developed into a ‘Trade Area Analysis Report’.

Coke said survey findings should also help the Community Development Department identify and attract ‘in demand’ businesses to the five centres.

Coke is pleased with the outcome of the survey process and is quick to thank the volunteers who helped with the data collection.

“Without the enthusiasm and interest of the project volunteers, this project certainly would have been more difficult,” he said. “Their passion to improve and enhance their community makes it a true joy to be a part of this project.”

Next steps of the project are to work with a landscape architect to create community designs for each of the five downtown cores. The renderings are to bring some of the preliminary findings to life and will illustrate what each of the communities could look like.

The Downtown Revitalization Project is a grassroots campaign led by the five downtowns through a volunteer based steering committee and co-ordinated by the County. The two-year partnership between The County, The Chamber of Commerce and OMAFRA is expected to result in the development of five Strategic Downtown Revitalization Plans – one for each of the communities of Picton, Bloomfield, Wellington, Consecon and Rossmore. In addition, the project is to result in an overarching, County-wide downtown revitalization strategy.