Downtown survey gets 851 responses

The DREAM Initiative sur-vey on downtown Cape Gir-ardeau drew 851 responses, according to Tim Arbeiter of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce.

The survey, which ended Nov. 30, started with 3,000 questionnaires being mailed to a list of randomly selected Cape Girardeau residents. Researchers hoped for 300 responses, and included a Web site address for those who wanted to respond online.

One of the survey recipients posted the Web address in an online chat room within days.

By the time the survey ended, 461 residents had mailed back their paper surveys, and 390 people had answered questions online.

A St. Louis-based company, Unicom-ARC, conducted the survey for Cape Girardeau and the nine other original DREAM Initiative cities. Unicom-ARC specializes in research for public engagement, elections and other communications areas.

Arbeiter, the chamber's vice president for community development, said he anticipates results from the survey, which will include analysis and recommendations for downtown redevelopment, by "late January or early February."