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Weigh in on Barracks Row Survey

February 10th, 2011 by Kate McFadden · 13 Comments · Barracks Row

uploaded to Flickr by orangeacid

Update: We were surprised to find that though the survey was just recently opened and the link was still live this morning, it has subsequently been closed.  Door-to-door surveyors have still been spotted in the neighborhood for those living proximate to Barracks Row.  We hope to have news on the results once they’re available.

It would seem, from the November and December comment-a-thons on Claudia’s updates about ANC 6B‘s mere consideration of a moratorium on Barracks Row liquor licenses, that we Hill residents are rife with opinions about the bustling business corridor. Well, it turns out, someone is listening and wants to know more and there’s an online survey keeping tabs on those opinions. There is, of course, no evidence that voicing your support or ire will have any great effect, but it is nice to be asked, right?

Instead of saying ‘pipe down’ (like more genteel neighbors want to say to gregarious late-night 8th Street patrons), business owners of Barracks Row, in collaboration with Barracks Row Main Street, want to take the pulse on issues like noise and trash, transportation, the restaurant and commercial blend and volume, and any perceived detriment or benefit to house values based on proximity to the area.

Martin Smith, the executive director of BRMS, says an independent urban planning firm, Stover & Associates, is performing the study. Going door to door in the blocks surrounding Barracks Row is just the first step; the online survey will allow them to get input from neighbors who aren’t home and those in the wider community who want to weigh in. I do wonder if said pollsters are just knocking on doors during the day and how that might sway their data.

The survey should take you a little over five minutes to complete, especially if you can keep your eyes steady on those Survey Monkey radio buttons better than I can. The questions feel a little folksy, with metrics of “way too much” to “a bit too little,” but there is a very gracious comment box which appears to have no character limit, so have at it! For taking the survey, your name goes in a hat for a $25 prize restaurant gift certificate.

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  • hill resident

    The link to the survey isn’t working. You have to delete the first bit.

  • hill resident

    the survey isn’t open either

  • jb

    survey link still not working.

  • Kate

    Actually, there was a pollster stopping at houses last Saturday night. I invited him in and let my dogs harass him while I filled it out. He was a good sport.

  • awads

    yeah, and the comment “easy, tiger” is kind of rude. it’s not MY fault i landed on the 404 page. fix the link!

  • Kate McFadden

    Well, sadly, the poll was live when I finished writing this post at 8 am, but it was closed later in the am. We’ll be sure to find out the results and get back to you. Notice of the survey went up on the HillEast listserve last week, so I hope that spurred a good response rate.

    The easy tiger 404 response is a WordPress staple and is automatically built into the platform.

  • http://www.stoverandassociates.com Jon Stover (the Surveyor)

    Kate, thanks so much for the post. We just closed the survey after a week of data collection. I’m happy to report that we received over 450 responses. I hate to close off the survey while not everyone has had a chance to respond, but we’re trying to turn out this study relatively quickly. If, for whatever reason, we need more feedback, we’d love to post on The Hill is Home again.

    The results of the study will be available by the end of the month. We’ll be emailing a link to the results to those who partook in the study, and will also make the results available to blogs like this one. Lastly, feel free to shoot me an email with any questions (jstover@stoverandassociates.com). Thanks!

  • http://twitter.com/nicholeaileen Nichole Remmert

    Thanks for the update, Jon.

    Quick question for you: can you tell us who contracted your survey? It’s unclear from the materials I’ve seen.

  • http://www.stoverandassociates.com Jon Stover (the Surveyor)

    Thanks, Nichole. The survey is funded by a group of business owners on Barracks Row. The study is being overseen by Barracks Row Main Street to ensure that all the findings are 100% objective.

  • Thom

    I hope Stover/BRMS or the funders of this study will consider posting all the questions and the percentage answers on each question. It sounds like good information and potentially a valuable contribution to the community.

  • Jackson F.

    The group of business owners that paid for the study is Xavier Cerver.a(Chesapeake Room, Lolas, Molly Malones and Senarts and what will at some point be a new bar next to Tunnicliffs) I myself find that quite interesting.

  • xavier

    Yes, I did pay for the study. After months of listening to countless opinions I felt it would be helpful for the community to have an independent study that would give us more specific detail. I hired Stover and Associates, an urban planning group and they brought on several additional certified urban planners to help with the study. They were selected with the help of Barracks Row Main Street and were supervised by BRMS director Martin Smith. I have notified our ANC that Stover will be delivering copies of the report to not only them but Champs, the BID, Hill Rag and of course The Hill Is Home! I will also ask Stover to post the entire report online for all to study. I have not yet read the whole report ( it is quite voluminous ) but it appears that John and his team did a great job. I believe the last piece is the video study that will take place over the next couple of weeks. In addition, John will be available to our ANC to answer any questions directly or at a public forum if the ANC request. Im sure people will have a lot to say about many different aspects of the study since it covers a lot of ground. With that being said, I must confess that the first place I went to in the study was the parking issue around Barracks Row. While this may not concern many of our neighbors who do not live near the Row it really does appear that this issue has an impact on those that live in the immediate area. Yes, I know that parking problems are endemic to commercial corridors, but as a business owner in that area I hear the cries from the neighbors and would like to suggest to all that if you are able to walk to the Row, park in the newly available 60 spaces under the overpass or even park a couple blocks away where there is much more parking the residents would be very grateful. We are also talking about an electric cart that will be able to ferry everyone back and forth ( free of charge ) to the 60 new spaces. Thanks and hope to have the study online in the next week or two

  • Paul

    RE: Barracks Row. My attitude is changing. I initially went to some ANC and ABRA meetings, but haven’t been to any in the last month or two. I think the change in Barracks Row is a fait accompli. Not that I’m particularly happy about it when I’m trying to find a parking spot, but solutions are being sought. The whole thing was driven purely by economics, but I don’t fear it becoming like Adams Morgan – the Capitol Hill neighborhood is too strong and the demographics are completely different. We can’t turn it back, and net-net, we all know it’s a hell of a lot better than it used to be. Now let’s make the best of the situation.