Survey says: Most think downtown headed in right direction

The buzz surrounding downtown redevelopment has not gone unnoticed by Las Vegans, according to a newly released survey sponsored by the nonprofit Downtown Las Vegas Alliance.

More than 74 percent of locals surveyed have a positive perception of downtown, and 81 percent think development is headed in the right direction. Of those who have recently visited downtown for fun, more than 93 percent had a positive experience.

More than 70 percent of respondents had heard or read about downtown in the last year, and 14 percent had learned about downtown happenings by word of mouth. Awareness is largely being driven by the March debut of The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, new businesses opening downtown, and Zappos.com and the affiliated Downtown Project's efforts to revitalize the area.

"The numbers are reflective of the rapid opening of many new projects downtown in the last six months and the publicity that has generated," said Terry Murphy, CEO of local consulting firm Strategic Solutions. The firm conducted the random, 400-person telephone survey, which sampled both landlines and cell phones in Las Vegas and surrounding enclaves.

"The numbers are good because there's a lot of good things to do right now," Murphy added.

Rick and Kelly Dale are two business owners who have set up shop downtown in the last year. Rick Dale restored vintage pieces of Americana, like gas pumps and barber chairs, from his northwest Valley home before in September moving Rick's Restorations downtown.

Dale's work is documented on the History Channel reality show "American Restoration," and the business draws 500 visitors a day, on average.

"Back in the day, we used to cruise Fremont (Street), and downtown was the coolest place to go as a local. We never went to the Strip. Through the years, it's just lost its sex appeal," said Dale, a longtime Las Vegas resident. "So what better place than downtown to show what we do, show restoration and help the whole area come back up?"

Dale hoped the steady stream of tourists and locals that flock to his business at 1112 S. Commerce St. would overflow to surrounding shops, and so far, it seems his plan is working.

The Dales are members of the Downtown Las Vegas Alliance, founded in 2008 by a group of downtown business owners and stakeholders. The group sponsored the survey to coincide with its "Rediscover Downtown" social media campaign, which launched in May. The campaign culminates in a Rediscover Downtown Day on Oct. 13 with special events and discounts for locals.

The alliance sponsored the downtown survey to create a base metric for future evaluations.

"The initiative of the alliance is to promote a better downtown," said Soho Lofts and Pop Up Pizza owner Sam Cherry, who sits on the alliance's executive committee.

"A big part of that is understanding how people view downtown. For many years it's been negative, but we all had a feeling in the last few years that it's been positive. We needed something solid to go off of."

Downtown businesses must still fight negative public perceptions of parking and public safety, the survey indicated. According to the city's parking manager, Brandy Stanley, more than 47,500 parking spaces are available downtown, most of which are located in private garages that offer validation.

As for safety, the Metropolitan Police Department's Downtown Area Command in June reported a 5.19 percent drop in violent crime between January 1 and May 26 compared to the same period last year. Property crimes fell 2 percent.

The downtown survey was funded by $5,000 apiece from the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, the city's Economic and Urban Development department and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

The agencies have also promised an additional $5,000 for a future follow-up survey.