Part 1: Why Plan for 35th Ave NE? Change is Inevitable.

This is the beginning of a mini series on the reasons for working towards a neighborhood plan.

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A comment we periodically hear from folks or read in our survey results goes something like this, "Don't change a thing. 35th is perfect just as is."  Unfortunately, freezing time is not in our means and change is inevitable.

The Theodora is being sold by the Volunteers of America.

Recently, this inevitable change became exemplified with the listing of a 3.7 acre property at 3300 NE 65th Street owned by the Children's Home Society of Washington, which isn't on 35th Ave NE but is within the limits of our draft planning boundary. Change cannot be stopped and it comes when we least expect it. Today, the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association shared that the Theodora is being sold by the Volunteers of America. The Theodora property is approximately 1.49 acres in size and is located east of the CHSW of property. This means that nearly 5.2 acres of property is for sale and will likely be changing near the 35th/65th intersection.

According to our survey, 84% of respondents are comfortable with more development, 92% of respondents want more retail diversity, and 88% of respondents think that the business district is "underdeveloped." One way to interpret these particular results is that folks generally would like some type of change to occur to the 35th Ave NE business district. Our hope is that we can provide a community's vision for the 35th Ave NE Business District to help guide future changes for the benefit of both the community as well as business owners and developers.

Get Involved and Join the 35th Ave Committee!

The 35th Ave Committee is the all-volunteer, grassroots group comprised of residents from the Ravenna, Bryant, and Wedgwood neighborhoods in NE Seattle. We're not a group of professional planners, architects, or land use attorneys...we're leadership consultants, biologists, physicians, teachers, and the like. We live here, are invested in this community, and want to proactively plan for the unavoidable changes that will occur along 35th Ave NE...our business district. Our goal is to engage our community and attempt to develop land use tools that faithfully represent the community's share vision for the business district.

Currently, there are 9 members of the 35th Ave Committee. We meet monthly-ish or slightly more if needed. If you're interested in participating, please don't hesitate to get in touch. Shoot us an EMAIL and tell us a little about yourself.  We always love to hear from folks who are passionate about land use, whether or not it's your profession.

What Kind of Businesses Did We Hear that People Want on 35th Ave NE?

As the results of our 35th Ave NE Survey indicate (HTML Link), the majority (92%) of respondents desire an increased diversity of businesses throughout the 35th Ave NE Business District.  Currently, the most frequently used business types currently include 1) shopping/grocery, 2) coffee/snack, and 3) banking.  But what are the most desired business types that respondents would like to see?  Well check out this cool word cloud!

Here's also our attempt to summarize what we heard from the respondents.

Restaurants

Vegetarian

Mexican

Indian

Thai

Vietnamese/Pho

Dim Sum

Sushi

Decent pizza restaurant

Breakfast/brunch/lunch place

Bakery

Bagel shop

Café/deli/sandwich shops with healthy foods

Prepared, carry-out foods

Gluten free bakery

Organic food outlets

Ice cream/gelato/frozen yogurt

Specialty desserts, e.g., pie shop

Smoothie/Juice bar

Pub/brewery, like Elliot Bay Brewery

Affordable neighborhood bistro

Family friendly

Finer dining

Artisan food shops, like La Pasta

Wine/cheese bar

Kosher deli or restaurant or butcher

Dog friendly restaurant

Tea house

Food trucks at park on Saturday nights

Fish taco cafe

           

Restaurants/Food Service, specifically mentioned

Sandpoint Grill

Molly Moons

True Food Kitchen

Cosi

Elliott Bay

Red Mill burgers

Tutta Bella

Macrina Bakery

Nana’s Soup

Frank’s Oyster House

In-N-Out Burger

Paseo sandwich shop

PlayDate SEA

Zingerman’s Deli

Delfino’s

Zoka’s coffeehouse

Zippy’s Giant Burgers

Twirl Cafe

Specialty Food Stores

Trader Joes

Chinese grocery

Butcher

Farmer’s market

Bookstores

Children’s bookstore

Third Place books with community gathering space

Newsstand

Boutique/Clothes

Kid clothing store

Consignment shop for kids, clothes and toys

Vintage clothing

Boutiques – clothing, gifts, cards

Fitness clothing

Crafts/Art

Yarn/craft/art store

Art gallery

Artist’s co-op

Ceramics studio -- wheels, kilns

Fitness

Small gym/fitness

Kids gym

Hardware

Ace or City People’s or McVicar’s hardware

Performance/Gathering Spaces

Small movie theater, live theater, performance spaces

Music studio rental space

Musical instruments

Music venue

Community center with meeting rooms

Retro video arcade

Healthy hangout for teens

Family friendly evening entertainment, e.g., bowling

Repair

Auto parts

Shoe repair

Small appliance repair

Computer repair

Small Business Services

UPS store

Photo copy & business printing store

Financial

Credit union

Miscellaneous

Daycare/kid activity

“Math N Stuff”

Doggie daycare/grooming

Florist

Spa

Dollar store

Home decorating accessories

State licensed marijuana store

Garden store

Bike shop/community based bike shop

Antique store

Kitchen/household

10,000 Villages

Party supply store

Diving Deeper Into Our Survey Results

If you're a "numbers person", you can download the MS Excel spreadsheet (.XLS, 92KB) of our recent 35th Ave NE Survey results and go crazy.  We did just this to look beyond the summary results (HTML Link) and see if there were any trends that weren't apparent at first.  Here's a summary of our additional analysis.

1. Were the survey results "stacked?" The first question we thought we'd try to address is whether anyone "stacked" the results by taking the survey multiple times. This question was brought up on the Wedgwood Community Council's Facebook page in response to how many people completed the survey. While we did not require any personal identification on the surveys, the online survey captured the unique IP address from each computer that completed a survey. In lieu of being able to answer this question directly, we can figure out how many surveys were completed on a single computer.
   Here's what we found! Turns out there were 51 occurrences where the same IP address was recorded on multiple surveys, totaling 116 surveys. Most of these duplicate IP addresses were associated with 2 surveys, which is not uncommon for a single household with a shared computer. Of the remaining duplicate IP addresses, there was 1 occurrence associated with 5 surveys, 2 occurrences associated with 4 surveys, and 4 occurrences associated with 3 surveys.


2. Does the business preferences change for residents vs. non-residents?  We were interested in seeing if there were distinct differences in motivation to visit 35th Ave NE between those that self-described themselves as "living in the neighborhood" versus not.
   Here's what we found! Of the surveys we received, 913 respondents identified themselves as living in the neighborhood while only 111 said they did not. Therefore, the data set associated with non-residents was much smaller and may not be as reliable as the data set for residents.  Nevertheless, we have compared the data out of curiosity.
   
   
   From a review of this data, there doesn't appear to be a significant difference between residents and non-residents on their reasons for visiting the 35th Ave NE Business District.  However, as we mentioned in our original review of the data, an error in our survey was the failure to include the NE Branch Library as an option.  From our review of the data, it appears that may respondents included the library under the "Personal Business" category, which the 2nd largest category selected by non-residents. This may suggest that the NE Branch Library serves as a draw to the 35th Ave NE Business District which attracts non-residents.
   
   Of the other notable differences, fewer non-residents (21%) visit the 35th Ave NE Business District for "Shopping/Grocery" than residents (29%) and fewer non-residents (3%) visit the business district "To Walk" than residents (8%).


3. Was there a difference in demographics between those that responded online versus submitted hardcopy surveys?  We thought we'd look into this question since we tried hard make sure everyone in the community had that opportunity to respond to the survey. Not only did we include four options for people to submit their results, but we posted flyers for the survey throughout numerous businesses (cafes, banks, library, dry cleaners, laundromat, and others) as well as at bus stops and on telephone poles to make sure we got the word out.  We also had information on the survey posted on our website, the Wedgwood Community Council's website, Ravenna-Bryant Community Association's website, and the Ravenna Blog's website.
   Here's what we found! As it turns out, the majority of respondents we heard from were white women for those that completed hardcopy and online surveys. However, there appeared to be a difference in age range in those that completed hardcopy versus online surveys.
   The data suggests that of the 1,012 respondents who provided their age (123 hardcopy respondents + 889 online respondents), there were more respondents by percentage between the ages of 50-64 (36%) and 65+ (33%).  Meanwhile, the majority (53%) of online respondents by percentage were the ages of 30-49.


4. Is there a difference among different age rages on their comfort level with increased development and a more diverse selection of businesses? Based on the results of Q25, Q26, and Q29, it appears that a strong majority of respondents are comfortable with more development within the 35th Ave NE business district, a more diverse selection of businesses types on 35th Ave NE, and a predominance of people who think the business district is currently underdeveloped. However, we were interested to see if there was a demographic group that was less supportive of these results than others.
   Here's what we found! As it turns out, every age range was strongly in favor of these results, albeit some stronger than others. Nevertheless, there appears to be support for increased development and greater diversity of businesses on 35th Ave NE. Of course, these questions were designed to force an answer to a difficult question without the opportunity to elaborate. In reading through the comments, it's clear that while most people are agreement on these outcomes, the scale, size, location, design, and other factors are clearly variables that influence the responses and were not captured in these statistics.
   

This additional digging into the data was to help us better understand the nuances of the survey and make sure that we're faithful to the data provided to us by those who completed the survey. If you'd like, dive into the data and share your findings in the comments section below.

What We Learned from Our Survey

UPDATE: It appears that the HTML link to the survey results does not open correctly in the Google Chrome browser. Try opening in Firefox or Explorer if you have trouble.

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Thank you to the 1,038 people who took the 35th Ave NE Business District Survey between June 1st and July 14th! We heard from lots and lots of you which means lots and lots of data to look at, which is a great problem to have.

To make make sure we were able to hear from everyone who wanted to complete the survey and attempt to get a representative portion of the community, we had 4 methods for people to complete the survey.

1. We had an online survey for people to complete.
2. We had printed hardcopies of the survey stationed at local businesses for people could pick up or drop off surveys.
3. We had versions of the survey available to print and mail in.  
4. We completed intercept (face-to-face) surveys where we interviewed 35th Ave NE business district users.

Given these 4 methods, we ended up with 914 respondents to the online survey and 124 hardcopies of the survey, which is loads of data to chew on. So, what have we learned from these 1,038 surveyors? Here are a few results that caught our eye. Here are all the results (HTML link) for your viewing pleasure, or you can download the full results in an .XLS Spreadsheet [92KB] if you're a fan of statistics.

• Q1: 69% of respondents hadn't heard of the Wedgwood Vision Plan before.
• Q2: Of those that had heard of the Wedgwood Vision Plan, only 9% of respondents participated in the Wedgwood Vision Plan, suggesting that the results of the 35th Ave Survey largely represents new respondents from those that completed the Wedgwood Vision Plan Survey. 
• Q3: 76% of respondents hadn't heard of this 35th Ave NE neighborhood planning process.
• Q5: The majority (89%) of respondents self identified themselves as living in the "neighborhood."
• Q8: However, most people (81%) work outside of the "neighborhood."
• Q9-11: It appears that people visit the business district during short, frequent trips throughout the week.  
• Q12: The top 3 reasons people visit the business district is for grocery shopping, coffee, and banking. (Full disclosure - The NE Branch library wasn't specifically identified as an option, which was an oversight of the survey.)
• Q13-14: Those that consider 35th their primary business district do so mainly because it's close and they grocery shop there.
• Q13&15: Those that don't consider 35th their primary business district do so because there's not enough variety and prefer to shop elsewhere.
• Q16: Most people visit the business district near the NE 75th Street and NE 85th Street intersections.
• Q17-18: In general, people feel safe in the business district.
• Q19-21: The majority of respondents appear to be white women between 30-49 years of age.
• Q22: In general, people visit the business district on their own or in small groups.
• Q25: 84% of respondents are comfortable with more development within the business district.
• Q26&31: 92% of respondents would like more retail diversity within the business district and 68% of respondents would like more "retail" than was inventoried.
• Q29: 88% of respondents feel that the business district is "underdeveloped." 
• Q30: Respondents said that they were comfortable with more development along the business district if it improves streetscape and walkability (75%), is well designed (72%), is located appropriately (55%), provides increased retail (46%), and transitions well with single-family (44%).
• Q34 & 37 (hardcopy questions only): Most people appear to drive alone or walk to the business district. (Full disclosure - This question did not include "Bike" as an option, which it should have. The 2.5% of respondents who chose "bike" wrote it in. This was clearly an oversight in the survey.)
• Q36: Most people (61%) who drive to the business district park in off-street parking lots.  

We're doing a bit more analysis of the survey results to see whether or not there are differences between the online survey results and the hardcopy surveys or between different demographics. We also may compare these results with similar surveys in other business districts that we are aware of as well. We'll post this further analysis at a later time.  For now, we hope you find the results as equally interesting as we do.

Over 650 Surveys Completed with about 2 Weeks Left

This past weekend, we started doing person-to-person surveying along 35th Ave NE to hear how the business district is effecting its users.  We've been getting a lot of great feedback to complement the surveys we have received online.  With about 2 weeks to go in our survey, we've received more than 650 complete surveys.  The information in this survey will be extremely helpful in guiding us into the future so that the 35th Ave NE business district best meets the needs of its users.

Thank you to everyone who have already taken the survey!  We can't wait to crunch the numbers and share the results with you all.

On a side note, the University District Livability Partnership released their Urban Design Framework for the U District today!

2 Weeks Into Survey and Already 300 People Have Filled it Out!

UPDATE: In the past week, more than 200 more people have filled out the survey! We've now gone past 500 completed surveys! There's still plenty of time to have your voice heard and take the survey before July 14th.

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After only 2 weeks of the 35th Ave NE Business District Survey being officially out, 300 people have already taken a few minutes to fill it out and share their thoughts on the future of 35th Ave NE.  There is so much wonderful information that we're hearing from all of you!  Everyone's thoughts are wonderful and we'll process all the data and share it once we close the survey.  Please continue to share the survey with your friends, family, neighbors, and anyone else you know who uses the 35th Ave NE Business District.

If you haven't already, please TAKE THE SURVEY NOW!  Keep the hard copies coming into the local businesses too!  I just picked up a handful from HomeStreet Bank, Cafe Javasti, and Van Gogh Coffee House.

The survey will be up through July 14th.