Downtown Survey Results

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The long-awaited results of the 2008 Downtown Neighborhood Survey are in. Can you guess what has changed dramatically? 

The report, intended to gain a better understanding of the Downtown community, aid in attracting more retail and help improve the quality of life, validates most findings in the 2007 survey, with one major exception: most residents now shop for groceries Downtown, thanks to Safeway‘s arrival at 5th and K Streets in Mount Vernon Triangle. As a result, residents shopping for groceries Downtown have climbed from 10% to 56%. In addition, the percentage of residents who now shop in Virginia for groceries has dropped from 41% to 16%, thus keeping a significant amount of retail dollars in DC.

Both survey results show that overwhelmingly Downtown BID area residents are young, well educated and live in high-income households. Their buying preferences indicate an unmet demand for shoppers’ goods retail, particularly grocery/food retail, fashion retail and department stores. The survey results will help recruit new retailers and promote Downtown as a regional shopping destination and weekend gateway for shopping, culture, entertainment and dining. For more survey results, visit www.downtowndc.org/neighborhood.

The Downtown BID, the Downtown Neighborhood Association, the Downtowner and the Penn Quarter Association sponsored the 2008 survey, which had more than 1,000 respondents, including 556 Downtown residents. Last year, a total of 975 respondents, including more than 700 residents, participated. Winners of the survey participant drawing will be announced on Thursday, April 2. Hotel Monaco (700 F Street) and Passion Food Hospitality—owners of DC Coast (1401 K Street), Tenh Penh (1001 Pennsylvania Avenue), Ceiba (701 14th Street) and Acadiana (901 New York Avenue) —will provide the prizes. First prize is a weekend stay at the Hotel Monaco and dinner for four at any one of Passion Food Hospitality’s restaurants. Two runner-up prizes will also be distributed.