Surveying Pico

By Teresa Rochester

Jan. 3 -- Indistinct businesses that line Pico Boulevard need a facelift. Parking problems plague both merchants and residents. And it could take a marketing blitz to introduce residents to neighboring businesses along the busy thoroughfare.

Those were among the conclusions drawn from an extensive survey of residents and merchants in the Pico neighborhood that was conducted last September by the Pico Improvement Organization. The group assesses levies to area businesses and the money is used to promote the street and address issues that face it.

The mail-in survey generated an unexpectedly high response rate from both camps, with 14 percent of residents responding and 18 percent of merchants.

"I was surprised by the number of responses," said the PIO's chair Jim Stebinger, who works for Trader Joe's. "We got an extremely strong response. We're not through analyzing results yet, but what surprised me was the amount of interest people had in Pico."

The survey, mailed out on Sept. 12 to approximately 9,500 residents between the Santa Monica Freeway and Ocean Park Boulevard and 400 Pico Boulevard business, polled recipients on everything from where they shopped on the boulevard to what improvements could be made.

When it came to traffic issues, a large number of respondents called for the addition of left-hand turn lanes and the removal of landscape medians that were installed two years ago as part of a beautification effort.

Parking, predictably, was noted as a major problem among the area's merchants, who found off-street and employee parking in short supply. Merchants also considered on-street parking troublesome.

Residents, most of whom live in preferential parking zones, had the opposite response, according to a summary of the survey. A majority of residents believed there are no parking problems. Among those living south of Pico, 56 percent of the respondents did not believe employee parking was a problem, compared to 47 percent of respondents north of Pico.

Residents, however, agreed in large numbers -- nearly 65 percent -- that improved customer parking was needed.

A large majority of both residents and merchants, 73 to 76 percent of residents and 63 percent of merchants, said that the street's storefront facades -- which are often flat and nondescript -- need to be renovated.

Overall respondents gave City services, particularly the Fire Department, good ratings. But 73 percent of residents north of Pico Boulevard and 54 percent of residents south of the street said crime prevention efforts needed "some" or "significant" improvement.

A majority of residents also felt that there was not enough illumination in their alleys. Graffiti and loitering also were named as problems, along with liquor stores.

Respondents -- who scrawled suggestions and comments in the margin of the survey -- also recommended that the two-year-old improvement district do more outreach in the form of a newsletter and events.

When asked where they shopped, more than 400 participants noted Trader Joe's, which was followed by Rite Aid and 99 Cents Only Store.

Residents were also surprisingly unaware of the types of businesses that already exist on the boulevard, based on their response to the question "what type of retail or service business would you like to see established on Pico Boulevard?"

A majority of people said they wanted a coffeehouse, despite the presence of the Unurban Coffee House at Urban Avenue and Pico Boulevard. Others wanted a large, major grocery store, restaurants, bookstores and a discount department store like Target, Kmart or Walmart.

Based on the responses, City officials, who collected the surveys, came up with several suggestions, among them that property owners look at the list of desired businesses for suggested tenants as vacancies arise.

The report also concluded that the PIO needs to help tackle specific crime problems through its relationship with the Police Department and address residential complaints by coordinating efforts with the City.

Stebinger said the PIO board is not yet ready to respond to specific items in the survey but added that the appearance of the street is something the organization can address quickly.