Polling app reveals homelessness top priority for Village business owners
When you respond to polls, you often answer and never hear the results. That’s not the case with Our Claremont Village. Your vote matters and we will report any action taken as a result of feedback from the community. It is free to participate and you are anonymous on the app unless you decide to reveal your identity.
The Claremont Village Marketing Group is thrilled to share the results of our first polls answered by Claremonters and visitors who are already participating in decision-making on the Our Claremont Village app powered by OurCo. Our Claremont Village is designed for mobile use, so please use your SmartPhone to scan the QR code below and join the conversation! Connect with whatever group applies to your status in our community, business owner, member of the Claremont Colleges, village shopper, and so forth.
In late March, the CVMG wanted to determine level of concern on pressing issues that impact the Village experience for businessowners, employees and customers.
To determine what people believe is causing a reduction of the number of visitors to the Village, we asked: “Claremont Village business owners have expressed concern about the number of businesses leaving the Village. Many business owners have shared that they have seen a reduction in the number of visitors to their stores and the Village overall since the pandemic. As a Village businessowner and customer, please rank your priorities below.”
Our Claremont Village app users had four topics of concern to choose from—city ordinances; rising rents/landlord concerns; homelessness/safety; and landscaping/cleanliness.
We learned that 62% of respondents identified homelessness and safety as their top priority. Several private comments were sent through app, which emphasized they would like to see Claremont’s local elected officials take a more active role in working with business owners to help solve the crisis.
“I see more homeless taking over our parks and sleeping in covered areas and would like to see our community take positive action on finding them shelter and mental health opportunities before it gets out of control,” an individual said through Our Claremont Village.
Rising rents and landlord concerns was the second highest priority at 19%, with city ordinances and landscaping/cleanliness following at 14% and 5%, respectively.
As a result of the poll and through conversations with Claremont Village Marketing Group members at our public meeting in late March, the CVMG is working with city staff to schedule a visit from management of the Claremont Police Department, along with other key city staff members, to brief Village businesses about policies relating to response to homeless by police.
City staff will also provide tips on what to do in the event of an incident involving a homeless person. We will keep you well informed of the time and place through email and push notifications on the Our Claremont Village app.
In a second question we asked, “The CVMG views the entire Village as one shopping district and coordinates its social media outreach to promote the Village as a whole. Would it be beneficial to your business if CVMG created marketing strategies specifically focused on the Old Village and Village West?”
The Village community overwhelmingly said yes, with 76% of those responding saying they would value targeting marketing for each Village district. Only 14% felt it was unnecessary, with 10% responding no.
The CVMG is dedicated to increasing its active membership by offering several opportunities to participate outside of serving on the board, which can be too time consuming for busy business owners. We inquired about interest of Village business owners serving on a large-scale event committee and got a resounding yes—94% of those surveyed said they would be interested in serving on a CVMG committee.
Your responses resulted in the CVMG creating its first major event committee: The 2023 Craft Beer Walk Committee. Our members met a few weeks ago to brainstorm about the June 17 beer walk. Volunteers from the Pomona Valley Arts Association and Lost Levels Arcade are now fully immersed in outreach. We look forward to expanding their roles at our next major event and to inviting more CVMG members to become involved.
To learn more about the CVMG and our events, visit https://www.claremontvillage.com/ or email Kathryn Dunn at info@claremontvillage.com. The CVMG team is here to support you. As a nonprofit organization, there is no membership fee and no cost to Village businesses who want to promote a special sale or event.
Please download the OurCo app and be heard. Be sure to keep push notifications on so you are alerted when a new poll is uploaded. We'll be sending out questions on a weekly basis. Some of the best things in life are free, and your opinion is invaluable.