Center City Residential Survey Results

[BobbyRobert]

Given that I have seen some debate on the nature of center city residential activity here I thought I would contribute some results from a mail survey of center city residents I completed back in November 2006. I am very interested in yall

[atlrvr]

I think these statistics pretty much validate what I said on the other thread about who was buying here, with the one question that wasn't asked, where were you originally from?

[dubone]

That all seems consistent with my own observations. I believe that many or most of the people living uptown do not work uptown. Households with two people often have at least one person working outside of downtown, and if they work in opposite directions, center city living is crucial to minimizing cumulative commute time.

My wife is a teacher, and commutes from uptown to the suburbs.

I commuted to other cities for half my time in Charlotte, yet we still chose to live uptown. Access to freeways in all directions, the airport, and nightlife were all major reasons for our choice of uptown.

[crispin]

also, this being the south, i know people who live uptown and work uptown and still drive from home to work.

(having completed this survey, i'm very glad to see the results. can you tell us where and when a more complete version will be available?)

[BobbyRobert]

also, this being the south, i know people who live uptown and work uptown and still drive from home to work.

(having completed this survey, i'm very glad to see the results. can you tell us where and when a more complete version will be available?)

I hope to have a complete version of all the results complete by early October. I will post a link to the final report here as soon as it is available.

Thanks for taking the time to participate!

[voyager12]

Anyone who lives centrally Uptown and also drives to work Uptown needs to be put in the UrbanPlanet Hall of Shame...if we had one

[ElricSeven]

Anyone who lives centrally Uptown and also drives to work Uptown needs to be put in the UrbanPlanet Hall of Shame...if we had one

I did when living in the furthest corner of First Ward. All it took was walking 1.25 miles in a dark suit with a large case full of legal documents when it is 90 degrees outside to change my mind. I do walk from Courtside now, though, but it is much closer.

[monsoon]

Considering that only got 16% of those surveyed actually responded, I don't know how any conclusions can be drawn from this survey. It would be scientifically incorrect to assume the other 84% had the same demographics and responses. We absolutely know the 84% is different enough from the 16% to not bother with a response.

[turbocraig]

With the possible exception of the US Census, isn't every survey/poll a sampling of the general population? I don't think this is meant to be scientific in any way, but the general results seem believable enough to me. How could we assume that the 84% is so radically different?

[BobbyRobert]

while I agree that the results of the mail survey cannot be interpreted with 'scientific certanty' (a standard that implies 100% replicability) it is impossible to survey any population with a 100% response rate. The census attempts to do this but they do not even come close. A 16% response rate is actually considered to be 'OK' in social science since typical survey response rates range from 5-25%. While response rates can be increased with strategies such as paying respondents or sending grad students door to door these strategies tend to skew results as well.

My purpose here is not to be defensive but to learn. Given that I'll ask, what is a sufficient response rate to consider a survey of a diverse group of urban residents valid? Are there better ways to gather data on the behavior of urban residents? (observation, secondary data etc.) I am not married to a particular method but I need to get a clear (and frequently updated) picture of who center city residents are. In the opinion of this board, what is the best way to do this?

[Vitamin_N]

I think the response rates for political polls are a lot worse than 16%, iirc, and those are at least in the ballpark (if not right on the nose). Response rates can also be low for those doing market research for business, but decisions are still made based on the results because there's no better alternative. Turbocraig, the other 84% could be radicallly different (look up "selection bias" if you're curious about the topic), but aren't necessarily. Their responses could differ on every single question, or just on one of them. Personally, I think this survey has some valid info in it.