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And The Survey Says? |
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The results are in and the votes are unanimous! Boyertown residents are hungry and bored. What am I talking about?? The results of the Boyertown market survey which was mailed out to residents months ago. Building a Better Boyertown was hoping for at least 500 completed consumer surveys but got a much better response with 1,108 consumer surveys and 47 merchant surveys completed. The majority of the surveys, 838, were mailed back with 270 surveys completed online. On May 25th the results were revealed to 65 eager residents and business owners at a public meeting held by Building a Better Boyertown at the Friendship Hook & Ladder Company on Warwick Street. Doors opened at 6 p.m. with appetizers and refreshments. Members of JGSC Group LLC out of Pennsauken, NJ were invited to review the results and help those in attendance better understand what the results meant. Their company works on revitalizing communities. Joe Getz was the speaker for JGSC Group LLC. What it boiled down to was that Boyertown residents are hungry for a larger variety of eateries and also somewhere to go to have some fun. Residents want to see more family oriented eateries such as Olive Garden, TGIFriday’s, etc. And they also want family oriented activities as well as “grown up” activities. Such as a fun center, bike/walk trail, bookstore, skate rink, recreation center, clubs/nightclubs, a coffee shop and dinner/live theater to name only a few. In other results, the most important things for Boyertown were jobs, recruiting businesses, getting more shoppers and promoting Boyertown. They wanted streetscapes and pedestrian crosswalks. Residents felt that character, small town and businesses are traits that are the best of Boyertown. The answers for the worst of Boyertown were traffic, parking, limited retail and building repair. When residents were asked how often they were able to find parking, the majority said “sometimes”. The most difficult things to find in Boyertown were clothing, eateries and a bookstore. When the visits per month to Boyertown were counted, more people came to Boyertown to dine than to shop although shopping was the second highest number of visits per month. The type of store people would most rather see here is a department store and secondly a bookstore. And speaking of stores, residents would like better hours to be able to shop. Some of the businesses in town are only open minimal hours or by appointment or chance. It was suggested by JGSC Group that Boyertown businesses support a “one night/late night” shopping event at least once a month for more convenient shopping. The way that Joe Getz summed it up is this. That Boyertown is a destination that lacks everyday retail trade. That we need to focus on retail management as well as making storefronts more attractive and possibly keeping shops within one solid block of shopping for consistent and consecutive retail. To fix the things we can fix, first. Keep the traffic slowed down through downtown to be able to see more of what is offered here. We need to recruit eateries, coffee shops, bookstores, clothing stores, and finally, to create destinations for families as well as a “night out” spot for grown ups. Although the turnout was better than expected, I was still a little disappointed that more residents did not attend to see what will be happening in their town. But there were so many great suggestions and ideas kicked around that Boyertown residents can rest assured that there are good things to come if we all stay focused to the tasks at hand and driven to accomplish them. We can truly “build a better Boyertown”, but only if the community comes together to do it. Try to attend the public meetings so your voice can be heard in your community. Send your comments to Bethanne Reinert at breinert@wzartv.com. |
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Posted on 05/30/06 by Bethanne Reinert. |
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