The first thing that is necessary to do is look at your downtown. I believe the best way to assess is to spend some time in the downtown sitting on a bench and observe. Watch the people come and go in the downtown and see how they react to the space. I try to just act as a normal person in the downtown and try to make it not very obvious that I am there to observe to get a true sense of what is going on.

If there is illegal activity occurring, that becomes a factor in your observations. It is better not to dwell on it too much while you are sitting there. Observe in different locations in and around the downtown at different times. Try to find out when there are people many people in the downtown, and when the foot traffic starts to diminish. Visit at night and see what is happening in the downtown as well.

Try to list the observed advantages to visiting the downtown. Think of the advantages and how they could be amplified or enhanced to make the public space better. Advantages could be that people arrive at a newsstand every morning to get a paper and stop by the coffee shop for a coffee. Another advantage would be that people arrive in the downtown to pick up their mail at the post office and they have to walk by stores to get there.

There is a need to also observe the constraints concerning why people avoid the downtown. Perhaps it is garbage cans overflowing onto the sidewalk. Inadequate lighting could deter foot traffic through certain parts of town. As you assess the constraints, you will be able to recognize that some of it is interrelated.

I always like to talk to people about the downtown to get their impressions. One can learn a great deal from just chatting about certain things in the downtown with people.  People, if approached correctly, will provide you with a lot of anecdotal evidence concerning why some things are the way that they are.

Reposition in the regional marketplace

What is your market position? Do you really have to know? Do you need a market analysis to tell you what your target market is for drawing customers to the downtown? Does the town really need to reposition?

They are all good questions and there really is not a good answer for all situations. If you have a downtown that has bottomed out, and people avoid it like the plague, do you really need a study to tell you that? It is always good to have a market analysis, but if money is tight and there is little hope of amassing enough money to conduct a market analysis, a self-assessment by the town is probably adequate.

To reposition your town in the regional marketplace, means changing the perception of your town in the minds of the people who live in the general vicinity. There are various methods of doing staff-based market analysis, and by doing a little research on the Internet you should be able to come up with some guidance.

The project could be done as part of a community or a board project. A broad swath of people should be involved. It could be someone in the group that took a marketing course while in college or who works in the field. In most cases, these folks can be helpful, but sometimes they can dominate the conversation and inhibit participation by others.

The basics for your analysis should include or address the following:

Area Analysis

Area analysis will provide a good gauge of where you get the majority of your customers. Normally a downtown will look to a three to five mile radius, depending upon the location of other downtowns. Trade areas can differ for different retail and food service offerings, and time and distance to arrive at the destination. In many cases, people are willing to drive a little further to get the goods and services they need, but people try to minimize long trips and rely on traveling a shorter distance when possible.  

Customer data from the stores in the town can provide significant insight into where the customers are coming from to the downtown area. Leaving a sign up sheet on the counter of stores is one way to get zip codes for an analysis. Normally a store will have a mailing list, and a brief count of zip codes will give the researcher a good cursory look at the area. If the right people are chosen, a businessperson roundtable or focus group can be helpful in determining the trade area.

It is also helpful to distinguish the trade area in terms of what destination stores or amenities are available, and where they draw customers and attendees.  Many of the stores will probably have a local following from the immediate area because of the convenience of the location. Other larger businesses like a furniture store, appliance store, or concert venue will draw from a larger area.

Demographics

Demographics sometimes can become a little complicated as people rely on psychographic data developed by the consulting groups. They segment the population by psychographic profiles with population titles like Gentleman Farmer, Country Squire, Big Fish in Little Pond classifications. This is fancy and it is well worth the money, but many times in small communities, there is not a lot of funding available for these kinds of efforts. 

There is census data (www.census.gov) that could be secured free, and will give you a breakdown of most of the demographics for your town as well as the U.S. Economic Census. The key items that are needed are your population, age cohort group, annual income, educational levels and housing.

The possibilities concerning what you could find on the census site is almost endless. You can search down to the block group of your census tract, which should give data for specific neighborhoods within you area. The census data is the most available data, and it is available for free. There is a caution with using the census data because there is no ability to have someone interpret the data, and that could be a trial and error task for the novice. 

Economic Analysis

One of the hardest parts of place making is getting the right uses in the downtown buildings. Everyone wants retail, retail, retail but the truth is that retail comes and goes, along with the bank accounts and dreams of ambitious people. Getting the right mix of retail, that is relevant to your demographic, is important because it tends to make the store more successful in the marketplace.

This task sounds daunting when revitalization/public space coordinator has no training in this field. There is a U.S. Department of Commerce web site (www.bea.gov) for the Bureau of Economic Analysis. There is also employer information provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov). The Census Bureau data could be employed to provide needed details, broken down on a level that closely mimics you census block group.

The Chamber of Commerce many times has a listing of the businesses in the area. Some of the information that you would seek could be available by speaking with the Chamber of Commerce and getting an introduction to some of the major employers. Remember, the goal is not only to get the information, but also the public’s buy in, by members of the business community.

Concentrating on and using the sources listed above, you will be able to put together a decent analysis of the local work force, number and kinds of businesses, local government tax structure and incentives, retail market and housing market, and the impact of community attractions (museum, concert hall).

The need for a survey of your businesses to get some of the information is paramount. The businesses should be broken down by use code. The North American Industry Classification Code (NACIS) has been used for the past several years and has replaced the Standard Industrial Classification Code (SIC) as the standard for business classification. Some agencies use the SIC Code and the real difference is the three digits on the SIC Code versus the four digits on the NACIS Code.

The kinds of things you would want to garner from a business survey include: employment figures, rent or own the building, how long in business, hours of operation, amount of space in square feet, where they park, hours of operation, busiest times, customer profile, and advertising strategy. These surveys should be conducted by hand delivery in the downtown. 

A consumer survey will also be needed to determine the needs of the populous. I have always believed that there should be door-to-door surveys as well as incept surveys of customers in the downtown. The kinds of information you would seek involves consumers shopping habits, what they like and dislike in the downtown, when they shop, how often they shop, what kinds of goods do they seek in the downtown, what kind of advertising motivates their consumer spending, and when, why, and how they come downtown. Be sure to ask a parking question, but be careful of how it is phrased to make sure that the question is not negatively perceived. Consumer focus groups are a good idea, as a supplement to home visits and intercept surveys.

You measure the square footage, and assign the square footage number and NACIS number. You take those classifications and you seek the census data, commerce data, and the labor data that relates to those classifications. That grouping is who you are as a downtown. Look at the classifications for which you have limited or no square footage. Unless that square footage is part of a regional draw, your town will be lacking in the delivery of those goods and services.

Analyze the data

This part of the market analysis may cause problems for the committee doing the analysis. The conclusions that you draw will be the basis for your proceeding with a strategy. 

You have to assess the demand and the supply and draw some reasonable conclusions.

The easiest way to start and not try to become demographers is to look up the NACIS Codes of the square footage that is available to you in the downtown, to determine how many stores are in the United States. Determine the population during the year the number of stores was determined. Divide the population of the United States by the number if stores in that NACIS listing. The number will determine the amount of people per one store of this type. You go back to your market area, and determine how many people are in the area, and how many stores the market area population will support. 

This kind of analysis provides a look at what your economic strengths and weaknesses are, and determines the gaps in the market.  Using the sources outlined, above you can determine market leakage to determine where the downtown is a regional draw, and the areas they have to recruit to remain competitive.

The information that has been secured through these surveys can help determine what businesses are seeking to expand or terminate. The information garnered from the local businesses concerning their perception of the downtown, parking utilization, and insights to what they need to remain competitive are valuable to future planning efforts.