Results of survey of residents wants released

The Town of Ashburnham Village Center Zoning District Committee and Town Planner Eric Smith have finished compiling the results of the Village Center Customer Survey that was mailed out to all 2,800 Ashburnham residents in July.

Nearly 90 percent of those who use the center of town use it for shopping, 42 percent said services, 40 percent said events, and 37 percent said dining (the survey allowed multiple responses to be chosen in this category).

According to the results residents want a sit-down restaurant, a bookstore, and a pub or tavern in the center of town. In contrast, respondents feel that the existing hardware store, bank, barber/hairdresser and dry cleaner in the Village Center do a good job at meeting their needs.

The survey was mailed through in the Municipal Light Department monthly light bills. The surveys were collected between July 7 and September 4.

A total of 234 completed surveys were returned to the town which created an 8.36 percent response rate and the preliminary results of the Housing Survey were shared with the Ashburnham Village Center Zoning District Study Committee at their November 19 meeting.

For those that responded 40 percent reported using services in the Village Center three to five times a week and 31 percent indicated they used the services about once a week. But only 7 percent reported visiting those businesses every day.

Most of the people using the center drive to it.

Those that dine out in the Village Center on average do so for breakfast approximately 2.1 times per month for breakfast, 4.1 times for lunch, and 3.6 times per month for dinner. However, only 8 percent of these dining experiences took place at establishments within the Village Center.

Respondents stated they were the most satisfied with the friendliness of service, safety, and cleanliness and that in deciding where to shop people viewed the quality of goods and services and the selection of merchandise as most important, and 30 percent rated the ability to find what you want in the Village Center as poor.

The survey also asked an open-ended question about, "What businesses do you patronize in other areas that you would like to see in the Village Center?" Approximately two-thirds of the survey respondents answered the question, in some cases listing several types of businesses; 73 wrote in "none." The type of business named most frequently was a restaurant, with 65 instances of this term; related answers included "pub" or "pub dining" (15 responses), "dining" (9), "coffee shop" (6), "family restaurant" or "family dining" (6), "fast food" (5), "bakery" (5), and "Dunkin' Donuts" (4). Residents are clearly most interested in some sort of casual sit-down restaurant. Other leading responses were a bookstore (24), gas station (13), a bank or credit union (13), another grocery store or supermarket (11), and a fitness club or gym (5).

A Power Point file that provides for a detailed summary of the Village Center customer Survey results will be available at the Town of Ashburnham Web site at http://www. ashburnham-ma.gov/Pages/AshburnhamMA_BComm/VillageZoning.

For more information about the Village Center Customer Survey or the work of the Village Center Zoning District Study Committee, please visit the Committee's web site at http://www.ashburnham-ma.gov/Pages/AshburnhamMA_ BComm/VillageZoning. Please visit the Town of Ashburnham's Website at www.ashburnham-ma.gov to find out when upcoming meetings of the Village Center Zoning District Committee will be held.