PEEKSKILL, N.Y. People living in and around the City of Peekskill say they want more dining and affordable entertainment options, department stores and better parking.
Those were just some of the results of a detailed retail study conducted for the city by Larisa Ortiz Associates, which was debuted Wednesday night in the neighborhood center for city officials and business leaders.
The survey interviewed not just city merchants and stakeholders but residents in the city and surrounding municipalities.
While the city has worked at becoming a dining and arts destination, Ortiz said, Peekskill should have more dining and art.
"On ground floor retail, you have 14 percent dedicated to eating and drinking establishments and then you have a little of everything," Ortiz said. "But what jumped out at us is in communities where restaurants are the draw, you typically see more of a percentage dedicated, 20 to 30 percent."
The city should also work to improve the consistent theme of the city, she said.
"You communicate that you are an arts district and yet on the ground floor there's not much of it that you see," Ortiz said.
In the survey of potential shoppers, 593 people said they shopped in the city, as opposed to 522 that said they did not. Those who did shop there said they did so three times a month and spent an average of $37.30 per visit.
"Those that don't come here often, when they do, 28 percent are coming to dine, so it's clear that's something that's attracting people who don't frequently come to Peekskill," Ortiz said.
Those that dined in the city also did so on average three times a month and spent an average of $50.25 per meal, the results said. About 49 percent of Peekskill shoppers were ages 35 to 54, while 39 percent were age 55 or older.
In terms of the household annual incomes of shoppers, 6 percent were in the less than $25,000 range, 31 percent were in the $25,000 to $75,000 range and 64 percent were in the more than $75,000 range.
When asked what they wanted to see more of in the city, the most common replies from shoppers surveyed, Ortiz said, were discount and regular department stores, grocery stores and clothing stores.
"Those are large stores and you don't have large spaces, so there's a disconnect there," Ortiz said. "People want to see those things but it might be challenging to offer them."
She said results show that ethnic cuisine offerings topped the list of what food options consumers wanted to see more of, followed by seafood and fast food. The city farmers market and Field Library were both named as big draws to the city by survey participants.
Both those who shopped in the city and those who didn't cited loitering and perceived safety concerns as reasons for why they did not shop in the city more often, as well as a lack of stores that interest them, the results said. The downtown parking garages were listed as a major deterrent to shopping downtown, according to survey results.
"At the downtown public garage, 16 percent of non-shoppers said they feel very insecure," Ortiz said. "Eleven percent of shoppers said they feel very insecure at the downtown public garages and double that22 percentof non-shoppers said that."
Ortiz and her staff recommended the city concentrate on the areas that the bulk of their shoppers come from, mainly the city itself and neighboring Cortlandt. She encouraged the city to keep touting its brand recognition with popular attractions instead of competing with nearby malls.
She also suggested the city work to improve walkability downtown and work to improve lighting and parking areas to help shoppers feel safe.
The full survey and video of Wednesday's survey presentation will be available Thursday on the city website.
Click here to follow Daily Voice and receive free news updates.
