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HEADLINES FOR APRIL 2008
DSA Takes Part in City Council Economic Forum
On February 26, 2008 representatives of the Seattle Business Coalition (SBC) conducted a brown bag Economic Forum with the Seattle City Council.
Established in November 2006, the Seattle Business Coalition is an organization of business groups and leaders who are committed to ensuring a healthy and competitive business climate in the city of Seattle.
The objective of the forum was to share recent SBC research on the Seattle business climate and begin to develop strategies for the City Council and the business community to work together to maximize Seattle’s strengths and increase the city’s economic base.
City Council members, led by Council member Richard McIver who Chairs the Housing and Economic Development Committee, agreed to work on developing economic benchmarks and a an economic dashboard for the Seattle economy. DSA President Kate Joncas agreed to lead the effort as part of DSA’s Competitive Edge initiative.
To review the economic forum fact sheet, click here. To review an analysis on Seattle’s business taxes and how they affect its competitiveness, click here.
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DSA Public Forum Update: Expect 5th Avenue Commute Challenges This Summer
In the fall of 2006, Seattle voters approved "Bridging the Gap," a $365-million levy for transportation maintenance and improvements. As a feature of that package, approximately 300 lane-miles of arterials will be resurfaced and repaired. Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will be working to complete repaving projects for Downtown streets prior to the anticipated date for removal of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Repaving of 5th Avenue, between Marion Street and Denny Way, will commence this spring and will last through early fall (May-Oct 2008)
DSA recently hosted an open public forum featuring project managers from SDOT. They discussed the project, timelines and mitigating factors that might disrupt traffic flow and summer visitor activity.
A few highlights of what to expect during construction include:
- Lane closures
- Pedestrian detours
- Parking restrictions
- Moderate construction noise and dust
- Normal work hours will be 7 a.m. – 4 p.m., with occasional night time and weekend work
- Regular notices with more location specific information during construction
For more detailed information that includes a project map and updates, click here. You can also rely on us for all your commuter/construction alerts by visiting downtownseattle.com and bookmarking this page.
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DSA Conducts Annual Residents Survey
Residents throughout Downtown Seattle believe it’s a safe place to live, despite increased concerns, according to findings of the most recent Downtown Resident Survey. Approximately 500 interviews were conducted late this summer in this second annual study comparing residents’ perceptions of cleanliness and safety. They were segmented into neighborhood groups and included Belltown, Pioneer Square/International District, Central Business District/Waterfront/West Edge, and South Lake Union/Denny Triangle.
Though most of the comparable findings were consistent with last year’s, there were also some noticeable changes. Here are a few key findings pulled from the survey:
- Buying and selling of drugs, public urination and keeping parks safe were the activities generating the strongest levels of concern among the total respondents.
- Sixty-nine percent of residents believe that Downtown is a safe place to live versus 77% in 2006. While overall survey results dipped slightly in 2007, the perception of safety in the Pioneer Square/International District neighborhood increased more than 13%.
- The same level agreed that neighborhood streets and public areas were clean in 2007 (72%) as in 2006 (71%).
The study has already been presented to a number of internal and external partners and is considered a good tool to assess the issues important to the growing number of Downtown residents. To review the 2007 Downtown Residents Study Executive Summary, click here. For additional information, please contact Paul Dobosz or Elliott Krivenko at 206-623-0340 or email pauld@downtownseattle.org or elliottk@downtownseattle.org.
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DSA Welcomes New Communications Director
The Downtown Seattle Association recently hired Randy Hurlow as its new Director of Communications. Mr. Hurlow brings nearly 20 years of public relations and marketing communications experience to DSA where he will oversee all external communications and programs in support of DSA’s mission and strategic plan, with the goal of increasing awareness and support for Downtown, DSA and its priorities.
Prior to joining the DSA staff, Mr. Hurlow worked for nearly six years as Public Relations Manager for Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) where he managed staff, public relations programs and community relations events in support of REI’s 90+ retail stores. Previous to REI, Mr. Hurlow was Principal and Group Management Director at the Seattle office of the international public relations and advertising agency Publicis Consultants (formerly EvansGroup in Seattle) where he provided strategic public relations planning for a variety of companies and national consumer brands, including local clients Harborview Medical Center, Seattle Seahawks, VoiceStream Wireless and the Washington State Lottery. His most noted achievement while working at Publicis Consultants’ Paris and Frankfurt offices was leading communications efforts during the historic launch of the Euro across the 12 European nations which adopted the currency in 2002. Mr. Hurlow also served as the President for the Tobacco-Free Washington Coalition and as President of the Public Relations Society of America, Puget Sound Chapter – one of the largest and most respected PRSA chapters in the country.
Please help us in welcoming Randy to the organization!
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DSA Posts MID Ambassador Excerpts
If you’re a stats person you appreciate knowing that last month MID Ambassadors provided more than 7000 directions to individuals in Downtown, removed close to 1500 graffiti tags and reached out to or provided 362 human service referrals. However, what we typically don’t tell you about are the daily activities that garner those numbers. Call it the human factor, which is an important component in providing clean, safe and healthy street services.
The Metropolitan Improvement District has compiled some of those report excerpts and we are making them available to the public. Many of the excerpts detail safety ambassador human services outreach, visitor assistance or responding to calls from ratepayers.
To read a few of the excerpts we’ve compiled, click here. We will be refreshing the content quarterly to give you a bird’s eye view of some of the MID Ambassador activities.
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UMG Flexpass Members Reduce Commute Trips Through Incentive Program
During the past two weeks, 149 people from 256 member companies that take part in the Urban Mobility Group Flexpass program had entered the WheelOptions Spring promotion. Combined, these individuals reduced 1338 trips into downtown Seattle. That means more people were using commuting alternatives and not driving alone into Downtown Seattle. The 149 participants equates to 33,941 less miles driven to and from work during the weeks of March 8 - 22. This year, the WheelOptions Spring campaign’s grand prize was a Rick Steves’ seven-day trip to Paris, among the thousands of dollars in other combined prizes. For a list of winners, please click here.
The WheelOptions campaign is part of the Washington State Ridesharing Organization, which consists of policy makers and employers to support the use of alternatives to single occupancy commutes. The Urban Mobility Group joined this organization in 2008 and offered its Flexpass members the opportunity to take part in the WheelOptions campaign for the first time this Spring.
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MID Ambassadors of the Quarter
Robert Rutter has been awarded the Maintenance Ambassador of the Quarter. He’s been employed by the MID since August 2007. Before coming to the MID, Robert spent more than 25 years service in the hotel industry, both as a bellman and night auditor. He is known by his peers as being very responsible and quite helpful. Due to his concierge experience and unique leadership qualities, Robert has earned a lead position over the crew in Pioneer Square.
Dave Salinas was recently recognized as the Safety Ambassador of the Quarter. He is a reliable and hard working ambassador whose unassuming approach toward assisting customers makes him a valuable asset to his team. As an assistant supervisor, Dave does an outstanding job leading his team and training new personnel. He was selected as the Ambassador of the Quarter for his outstanding job of meeting the needs of customers in the field.
If you see Robert or Dave on the streets, please congratulate them on their achievement.
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DSA Wins Three Event Awards
for Seattle Sandfest
The 2008 Summit Awards were recently announced by Washington Festivals & Events Association (WFEA). This year, DSA was recognized for Seattle Sandfest, the Retail Core’s premier summertime event featuring professional and amateur sand sculptures. DSA received Silver Awards for “Best Festival Promotional Brochure” and “Best Community Service Program” and a Bronze Award for “Best Overall Promotional Campaign.”
The Summit Awards is a competition among Washington’s festivals and event producers. The competition recognizes those in the industry who are continually improving the quality and image of festivals and special events in the eyes of the community and media.
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