Cape chamber receives 800 survey responses

The response rate for Cape Girardeau's DREAM survey has been huge, according to Tim Arbeiter, of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce.

Arbeiter said as of 2 p.m. Wednesday, the city had received 423 paper surveys and 377 online responses.

A paper questionnaire was mailed three weeks ago to 3,000 Cape Girardeau households chosen randomly by a computer. City officials hoped to see 300 returned, with suggestions for ways to revitalize the downtown district.

Marla Mills, executive director of Old Town Cape, said city, Old Town Cape and chamber of commerce officials working on the DREAM Initiative "are very thankful for the overwhelming response to the community survey. The citizens of Cape Girardeau definitely have their opinions about downtown. More importantly, it shows that people care about its future."

Pradeep Singh, associate professor of statistics at Southeast Missouri State University, said the planners may want to give more weight to paper surveys. The computerized list of addresses helps ensure unbiased results.

The problem with an online survey is that a few people can answer multiple times "or people interested in that topic are the only people answering," he said. Online polls can be set up to track who responds, Singh said, but people often consider that an invasion of privacy.

Opinion polls conducted by such companies as Zogby International, Gallup or Pew Research Center generally employ phone surveys of more than 1,000 people. Phone queries are the most expensive form of research, according to Arbeiter.

Singh was impressed by the number of paper surveys returned to the city. He said the more paper survey responses, the more accurate results will be.

Timexx Nasty, frontman for the hard rock band Drivin' Rain, endured some angry e-mails after sharing the survey Web address in an online forum, www.capescene.com.

"I posted the link not knowing it was going to cause a ruckus," said Nasty, 36. "I'm glad that it helped to stir interest and get people to send it in," he said, adding that he hopes results lead to more parking and public restrooms downtown.

Unicom Arc is tabulating responses for Cape Girardeau as well as nine other original DREAM cities, Mills said.

"We don't expect the first wave of results until mid or late January," she said.

She called public feedback a critical piece of any community strategic planning process.

"The results should also tell us some overarching themes that could be consistent from the input received from the focus groups, as well as what the visitor intercept surveys say about the downtown area," she said.

The survey is online at www.downtowncapesurvey.org.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127