Survey Says Downtown Fredericksburg Can Be Better

The Fredericksburg Downtown Gang got more than 100 pages of comments from the approximately 1,000 people who responded to an online survey the volunteer group sent out earlier this year to get opinions about downtown Fredericksburg and how to make it better.

All of the comments are attached to this article in a PDF. The project was part of Leadership Fredericksburg, a group started by the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Most of the people who responded are between the ages of 23 and 49 and make between $50,000 to $180,000 or more a year. About one-third of the respondents live in the 22401 Fredericksburg ZIP code and most of the rest are from Stafford and Spotsylvania counties. The business owners who responded to the survey noted that no growth and the decline in the economy was the top challenge to doing business downtown, with lease prices and parking rounding out the second and third challenges.

Here are the top three responses to some of the survey's key questions:

Question: What brings you to downtown most often?

1. Restaurants, 41.7 percent or 398 votes

2. Shopping, 15 percent or 143 votes

3. "Other," 10.9 percent or 104 votes

Question: What would attract you to downtown more often?

1. Better variety and quality and more relevant stores and restaurants, 24 percent or 309 votes.

2. Better/Longer/More consistent hours, 16 percent or 202 votes

3. Festivals/Community events, 9 percent or 113 votes

(Tied) 3. Movie Theater

Question: Do you think the parking garage is accessible to downtown?

Yes, 62.6 percent or 586 votes

No, 37.4 percent or 350 votes

Question: What downtown events do you attend?

1. Christmas Parade, 67.9 percent or 570 votes

2. First Friday, 53.7 percent or 451 votes

3. Octoberfest, 50.6 percent or 425 votes

Question: Which retail items do you purchase in downtown Fredericksburg?

1. Grocery-Food-Wine, 60.4 percent or 518 votes

2. Books, 48.4 percent or 415 votes

3. Jewelry, 41 percent or 351 votes

(Antiques were 39.7 percent of 340 votes)

Question: What services do you use downtown?

1. Restaurants, 94.4 percent or 842 votes

2. ATMs and Banks, 43.3 percent or 386 votes

3. Museums, 39 percent or 348 votes

Question: What is your overall perception of downtown?

Needs Improvement (worse rating), 39.1 percent or 354 votes

Fair, 40.3 percent or 365 votes

Good, 20.6 percent or 186 votes

Question: While preserving the historical landscape what type of business would you like to see downtown?

1. Movie theater, 64.1 percent or 507 votes

2. Grocery store, 46 percent or 364 votes

3. National retailers, 32.9 percent or 260 votes