By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

To know where you’re going, you have to figure out where you are.

Toward that end, surveys were a big theme of Monday’s Admiral Neighborhood Association– and West Seattle Chamber of Commerce-facilitated meetup for Admiral business owners.

One survey’s already complete – ANA unveiled results of the survey it circulated among more than 100 business owners/merchants in the greater Admiral area, from the northernmost commercial building on California SW, to California/Charlestown.

The second is about to begin – a city rep talked about a new citywide survey launching tomorrow in six business districts, including Admiral – which may find you approached by a survey-taker on the street.

This all began when ANA started talking about how to take a more active role in the health of the neighborhood – not being reactive, as might be the tendency for some neighborhood councils, springing into action when a problem or controversy arises. In this case, the group recognized that the redevelopment of Admiral Safeway provided an opportunity for the business community to move to the proverbial next level.

During Monday’s gathering at Porterhouse, ANA president Katy Walum told the dozen-plus businesspeople in attendance, “We’re your biggest cheerleaders.” and explained that ANA is in open dialogue with city leaders and local elected officials. She also said ANA’s membership can be seen as a resource, with members/leaders who might have skills on which the business community can draw.

ANA’s David Whiting (above, with Admiral wellness-business owner Ted Johnson) headed up the group’s effort to bring businesses together and presented the survey results, which you can see here in their entirety. They provided a snapshot of the business district – a majority of respondents (27 percent of those who received the survey) were in the “professional services” categories, with one to three employees, in business three to ten years – and their concerns/interests.

Asked to “identify the three highest priorities amongst (a set of) neighborhood characteristics that you would like to see addressed as a business owner or manager?”, respondents chose these as their top three:

*Streetscape / outdoor lighting / sidewalk / trash receptacles
*Parking / traffic congestion / public transportation
*Crime / vandalism

Asked again about the same set of “neighborhood characteristics” and which ones they thought could be best addressed in partnership with ANA, respondents again chose the same top characteristic – streetscape, etc. – tied with the one that actually came in fourth in the first question, “community events and activities.”

Following the ANA presentation were CEO Patti Mullen and board chair Dave Montoure from the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce. They explained how the Chamber operates – and also noted historical ties to Admiral; Mullen brought 1960s memorabilia from an Admiral merchants’ group of that day, and Montoure mentioned playing on the Admiral merchants’ Little League team.

They were followed by Andres Mantilla from the city Office of Economic Development (above with Chamber CEO Mullen), explaining the “Neighborhood Business District Access Intercept Surveys” scheduled to kick off tomorrow in six parts of the city, on behalf of SDOT: In Admiral, Columbia City, Fremont, Othello, 200 people will be interviewed in each neighborhood; in Ballard and Capitol Hill, more than 300 will be interviewed in each neighborhood.

His key message: Neighborhood business districts don’t need to hatch a vision of what they think they “should” do – they should learn as much as they can about knowing who their customers are, seeking the answers to questions such as, how far do your customers travel to get to you? How long do they stay? Do they have families?

The surveys that will be done by the city – in partnership with Burien-based subcontractor Consumer Opinion Services – will be conducted at business districts’ busiest intersections during afternoons and evenings over the next three weeks, with interviewers “approach(ing) every fifth pedestrian to participate,” according to a handout circulated at the Admiral meeting. The results are scheduled to be presented to local Chambers of Commerce in November.

As for the ANA’s partnership with local businesses – that will be a work in progress. They’re already partnered for one of the Admiral area’s biggest autumn events – the Treats and Treasures business-district trick-or-treating event, set for Halloween (time not yet announced) as always.