How do metro Detroiters feel about Downtown?

The Downtown Detroit Partnership (DDP) released their 2015 Downtown Detroit Perceptions Survey and unsurprisingly, the perceptions they gathered are pretty favorable towards downtown.

The DDP surveyed 4,000 people from around the region. (The pdf of the results can be accessed here). Just over 50% live in Wayne County, with 30% living in Detroit. 64.4% of the respondents were Caucasian, while 22.4% were African American. Nearly 60% of respondents work downtown. 53.5% were under the age of 44.

So first for the good feelings about the city. Respondents overwhelmingly think that downtown has lots of potential (97.5%), that a healthy downtown is important to the region (97.2%), and that downtown is safe during the day (94%).

People like to visit Campus Martius, the RiverWalk, and Comerica Park.

When asked for agreeable, neutral, or negative feelings toward certain populations, respondents felt pretty neutral about how downtown was welcoming the LGBT community, accessible for people with disabilities, and friendly toward senior citizens.

What can downtown work on? Parking for one. People felt that their car wasn’t all that safe parked on the street (49% felt like it was), and only 50% were cool with the new parking meters. And riding a bike downtown? 32% felt safe on two wheels.

And don’t even ask about how safe or convenient the bus situation is, but many are looking forward to the M-1 rail.

Progress? Sure. But this survey offers much for the downtown community to work on.

• 2015 Downtown Detroit Perceptions Survey [Downtown Detroit Partnership]