83 DEGREES MEDIA
The Tampa Downtown Partnership is soliciting responses for its fifth biennial survey of Downtown Tampa’s student, residents and workers. Since the surveys were firs compiled in 2008, their findings have helped seed initiatives in Downtown Tampa such as enhanced accessibility to the river, fitness events in the parks, new museums and attractions, improved bicycle accessibility, extended oeprating hours for transportation and merchants, and full-service grocers, to name a few.
“Over the years we have seen the progression of Downtown through the responses we collect,” said Christine Burdick, CEO and President of Tampa Downtown Partnership. “We’ve been able to see the evolving needs and wants of the growing workforce and resident populations,” said Burdick. “We are then able to take those responses and transform them into solutions to help us serve the community with enhanced services and programs like more events along the Riverwalk.”
Karen Kress, Director of Transportation and Planning for Tampa Downtown Partnership, said the survey helped identify the need for “last mile” transportation services which led to the complimentary, app-based ride service, the Downtowner, coming to Downtown.
“We were continually seeing a need and concern from residents and workers for transportation that removes the need to drive their cars Downtown,” said Kress. “Taking those additional cars off the road for short trips ranked high on the desirability scale so we were able to identify that the population was ready to support a solution.”
The Partnership works with a third-party research group, HCP, to conduct the survey and preform an in-depth analysis of the results. The surveys will be open through December when they are closed and the data review begins.
At the conclusion of the analysis, Tampa Downtown Partnership and HCP prepare the survey results and will present the findings during the Tampa Downtown Partnership’s 21st Downtown Development Forum, held in March.
Links to the surveys:
Note: If you live and work in Downtown, please take the resident survey.
