POTTSTOWN — Visitors have a more positive perception of downtown Pottstown than residents of the borough, according to the results of a recent survey taken by more than 1,100 people.
“Sometimes I think we’re harder on ourselves than visitors are,” Peggy Lee-Clark, executive director of Pottstown Area Economic Development, told the borough council when she presented the results during the July 14 meeting.
The survey, promoted by PAED for the Pennsylvania Downtown Center from May 14 through July 6, had a number of other interesting results.
For example, more respondents aged 18 to 24 (46.8 percent) believe the downtown area is safe than respondents aged 65 to 74 (37.5 percent).
The younger age group also shops more often downtown and believes the downtown to be “vibrant” during the day.
Lee-Clark said the 5 percent response rate to the survey was much better than the statewide benchmark of 3 percent. “We’re very happy, it was a very responsive rate,” she told the council.
The results, she said, will be used to set a baseline, and surveys will be conducted again in three years and then five years, to measure if the downtown’s metrics have improved.
More than half of those responding in nearly all three age groups highlighted in the presentation — 18 to 24, 35 to 44, and 65 to 74 — responded that the downtown has safe sidewalks, the “right mix” of businesses and shops there at least a “few times a month” or more.
The downtown’s highest rating, according to Lee-Clark’s presentation, is for its historic architecture, which was cited by 87 percent as being high quality.
More than 60 percent believe the downtown has unique, affordable businesses and a “good array of special events.”
The survey also showed areas where there could be some improvement.
• 28 percent felt the community could be better marketed,
• 23 percent said downtown could be more vibrant in the evening. “We do seem to roll up the sidewalks at a certain time,” Lee-Clark observed.
• 26 percent felt the downtown could have a better mix of businesses.
• 19 percent responded that downtown buildings “could be better maintained.”
Lee-Clark also offered updates on three businesses that have closed recently — Manatawny Stillworks, DJ Pallets, and Lady Liberty. The last closed because the owner moved to Florida, and the other two because of changing business conditions, she said. “None of those closures had anything to do with Pottstown,” she said.
On the positive side, Lee-Clark noted that since it opened in Riverfront Park in 2016, Take it Outdoors, which rents kayaks, canoes, paddleboards and bikes, has brought 13,000 people to the Schuylkill River.
“They are taking advantage of something we often take for granted in our own backyard,” Lee-Clark said.
