JAHNKE ROAD COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION
New Directions Survey Analysis
Cary Weatherford
January 1998

Introduction
In all 263 people responded to the survey. Some of these responses were only partial and this will be reflected in the final results. Some individuals chose to answer only certain questions for emphasis while others omitted some questions for personal reasons or failed to recognize that the form was two-sided. The following is an analysis of the responses beginning witha general profile of the demographic characteristics followed by a breakdown of the more comprehensive questions.

Table of Survey Contents

• Demographics
• Age
• Income
• Househould Size
• Pets
• Shopping Habits/Paterns
• Impressions of the Jahnke Road Corridor
• Discouraging Factors
• Improvements and Services Needed
• Activities

Demographics
Question 10 revealed that a large majority of the questionnaires were received from females more than double the number received from males. A total of 253 people answered this question 177 or 70% were females and 76 or 30% were males.

Age
Table I below illustrates the age representation of the questionnaire respondents. The group most largely represented are those 61 and over with a total of 83 or 33% of the 252 individuals who answered this question. Second is the 31 to 40 age group at 52 or 21%. The group with the smallest representation is 19 and under group.

Table l: Age Representation

Top                        

Income
Table 2 below shows the breakdown of the income levels of the participants as taken from responses to Question 13. Representation among the 210 people who answered this question appears to be evenly distributed among the various income ranges. The highest number comes from $40,000 to $50,000 income bracket with a total of 29 or 14% of the responses. The $35,000 to $40,000 and $25,000 to $30,000 ranges are close behind with 26 (12%) and 25 (12%) respectively. The range least represented is the under $10,000 range.

Income Range      

Up to $10,000

$10 001 to $15,000  

$15 001 to $20,000   

$20 001 to $25,000   

$25 001 to $30,000    

$30 001 to $35,000    

$35 001 to $40,000    

$40 001 to $50,000   

$50 001 to $60,000    

$60 001 to $70,000    

over $70,000     

Total        

Table 2: Income Representation

Top                        

Household Size
Table 3 shows the size of households which were represented in the survey. A large majority of households surveyed (80%) had two or fewer members with two member households being the most common.

Table 3: Household Size

Top                        

Pets
In Question 15 respondents were asked the number of pets they had in their household. These answers are contained in Table 4 below. Of the 254 who answered this question 148 or 58% do not have any pets. The remainder have at least one pet a majority of which are one or two pet households. However 13 households (5%) said they have 5 pets.

Pets in Household

Table 4: Number of Pets in Household

In the second part of Question 15, households with pets were asked to clarify what type of pet or pets theyhave. A large majority of pet owners have cats and dogs, which totaled 90 (46%) and 67 (34%) respectively. Of the pet types remaining on the questionnaire, 8% of pet owners have birds, 10% fish, and 2% reptiles. Some others not contained on the list which were mentioned are hamsters, rabbits, gerbils, and sugar gliders.

Type of Pets

Table 5: Types of Pets

Top                        

Neighborhood/ Subdivision/ Apartment Complex

In Question 12, respondents were asked to specify neighborhood/ subdivision/ apartment complex they live, the street they live on, and the zip code in which they live.

• Most of the survey participants come from the 23225 zip code area.

• Of the 174 persons who offered their zip code, 167 or 96% live in 23225 area.

• Of the remainder,
  3 live in 23224, and
  1 each in 23221, 23231, 23223 and 23226.

• Street name and neighborhood were more diverse, though some answers appeared somewhat frequently.
  Heritage Oaks
  Westlake Hills
  Westover Gardens
  Bramblewood Estates
  Renaissance, and
  Oakhurst Manor
  were frequently mentioned as area of residence.

• Street of residence was the most diverse, but
  Hioaks Road
  German School Road
  Forest Hill Avenue
  Jahnke Road
  Newell Road
  were frequently mentioned.

  Top                        

Shopping Habits/Patterns

Question I asked respondents to indicate where they shop most often. Table 6 below displays the results. The Food Lion Center is overwhelmingly the most popular area to shop, followed by Cloverleaf Mall, Chesterfield Town Center, the Midlothian Corridor, and Stony Point Shopping Center. Downtown and Westover were the choices mentioned least. Some of the areas mentioned which were not on the list are Brook Run, Hannaford, Regency, Ukrops on Midlothian, and Sam's Club.

Shopping Preferences

Table 6: Current Shopping Preferences

Top                        

Impressions Of The Jahnke Road Corridor

• Question 12 examines parking in the Jahnke Road corridor. Most individuals who answered this question felt that parking was adequate. Of 231,193 or 84% indicated this, while only 38 or 16% felt parking was not adequate.

• In Question 6 they were asked to chose, from a number of factors, which elements of the area discourage them from shopping there. The question was designed for respondents to choose the five most discouraging factors, and to rank then 1 to 5. However, most ofthe individuals who answered this question did not follow this format. Some put a number beside every choice, while others simply checked the most discouraging factors. For this reason, all of the choices for each factor were totaled instead of examining the emphasis placed on each by assigning it a number.

• Table 8 below lists the results. The three most discouraging factors were crime in the area, visual appearance, and the current mix of businesses. The three elements which received the least notice are public transportation, parking, and street congestion though all three were selected more than 25 times.

  ---

  Discouraging Factors
  
  

  Factors	# of Responses	Rank
  Crime in Area	116	1
  Visual Appearance	107	2
  Current Mix Of Businesses	94	3
  Loitering	90	4
  Litter/Trash in Area	89	5
  Street/Outside Security	88	6
  Alcohol/Drug Use Outside	72	7
  Juvenile Gangs	70	8
  Street Traffic Flow	64	9
  Congested Streets	46	10
  lnadequate Parking	35	11
  Public Transportation	29	12

  
  Table 8: Discouraging Factors
  
  Questions 8 and 9, both open-ended, attempted to pinpoint the most and least attractive elements of the Jahnke Road corridor. Because of their number and diversity, these answers are difficult to categorize and quantify. They have, however, been transcribed verbatim and are provided in the data packet which accompanies the report.

  Top                        

  ---

  Improvements and Services Needed
  
  Question 3 gave survey respondents the chance to choose which services they would like to see in the Jahnke Road corridor. Table 9 below list the goods and services in the order of their popularity. The top five responses were restaurants, a hardware store, a grocery store, a bakery, and a women's clothing store. The five goods or services which were selected the least were financial services, appliances, professional services, furniture store, and medical services.
  

  Desired Goods and Services
  

  Goods/Service	# of Responses	Rank
  Restaurants	147	1
  Hardware Store	105	2
  Grocery Store	95	3
  Bakery	94	4
  Clothing-Women	80	5
  Florist	67	6
  Shoe Store	61	7
  Drug Store	53	8
  Barber/Beauty Shop	51	9
  Dry Cleaning	49	10
  Sporting Goods	42	11
  Clothing-Men	42	12
  Clothing-Child	42	13
  Medical Services	39	14
  Furniture Store	28	15
  Professional Services	27	16
  Appliances	25	17
  Financial Service	21	18

  Table 9: Desired Goods and Services

  Top                        

  In conjunction with the responses given for Questions 7 and 8, Question 4 allowed survey participants to choose which improvements they deemed most important for the Jahnke Road Corridor. Table 10 below lists the improvements in order of their popularity.

  Improvement	# of Responses	Rank
  Public Safety	140	1
  Lighting	96	2
  Variety of Merchandise	92	3
  Quality of Service	80	4
  Walkways	75	5
  Access	56	6
  Advertising	49	7
  Prices	46	8
  Special Promotions	36	9
  Window Displays	34	10
  Store Hours	31	11
  Store Interiors	29	12

  Table 10: Needed Improvements

  The improvement which was declared most important was the need to increase public safety, which got 44 more responses than the number two selection. The remaining responses in the top five in order of popularity were lighting, the variety of merchandise, quality of service, and walkways.

  Top                        

  ---

  Activities
  In Question 16, a number of leisure activities which are performed outside the home were listed. Individuals were to chose the three they participate in most, and to order them from 1 for most frequent to 3 for least frequent. Once again, many of the answers did not conform to the format of the question, so all of the responses for each activity were simply totaled. Religious and church related activities and walking were tied for the most popular activity, followed by movies, natural walks, and other activities which were not listed.

  Activity	# of Responses	Rank
  Religious	129	1
  Walking	129	2
  Movies	92	3
  Natural Walks	67	4
  Others	52	5
  Swimming	35	6
  Automotive	28	7
  Bicycling	25	8
  Bowling	24	9
  Dancing	22	10
  Water Sports	21	11
  Golf	21	12
  Tennis	18	13
  Baseball	16	14
  Basketball	14	15
  Volleyball	9	16
  Soccer	8	17
  Rink Skating	6	18
  Roller Blading	5	19

  Table 11: Activities Outside of Home

  Top                        

  Question 17 focused on activities which take place at home. Survey participants were given a choice of 11 such activities, and asked to choose their three favorites, ranking them from 1 to 3. The results are furnished below in Table 12. Reading or books was the overwhelming favorite, with 178 responses. Completing the top five are video, cooking/culinary, yard or lawn care, and gardening.
  
  At Home Activities

  Activity	# of Responses	Rank
  Reading/Books	178	1
  Video	99	2
  Cooking/Culinary	76	3
  Lawn/Yard Care	52	4
  Gardening	47	5
  Computer Related	46	6
  Crafts	41	7
  Pet Related	40	8
  Photography	24	9
  Painting/Framing	19	10
  Spa/Pool/Hot Tub	11	11

  Table 12: At Home Activities

  Question 18 allowed respondents a chance to suggest a recreational activity they would most like to see in the Jahnke Road Corridor. These answers are included in the data packet which accompanies this report. This question prompted a variety of answers too numerous to mention in this report. There were, however, several responses which appeared repeatedly. A fitness facility or gym of some kind appeared several times, as did a skate rink, bowling alley, park, movie theater, and walking trail.

  Top