This study analyzes results from a survey of business owners in NYC's Chinatown. Key questions included whether businesses felt they had been affected by security changes relating to 9/11 and its economic impact. Both quantative and qualitative results enrich the data in this case study.

Objective

The primary objective of this study was to conduct interviews with owners of businesses in the downtown/Chinatown area of New York City in order to provide a socioeconomic analysis for an environmental impact statement. An important goal of the project was to ask the target respondents about their views on the Security Zone set up at 1 Police Plaza. Another focus was to evaluate whether or not business had stayed the same, gone up, or gone down in the past year [2005-2006].

Project Methodology

In order to achieve the above objectives, we employed a face-to-face interview methodology. For a three week period, we had a team of 4-6 bi-lingual interviewers [Mandarin and Cantonese] span out across Chinatown business districts and speak with owners and managers of the stores within those areas. Stores were segmented by type and by the district they fell into. A total of N=306 interviews were completed. Please find below, the questionnaire administered to elicit the required feedback:

Results

A sample of N=300+ businesses and an even spread across the different districts suggests that our findings based on these interviews are statistically representative of the general Chinatown area.

Table 2 above shows that we achieved a reasonable spread across various business types, as well. A note should be made that despite the high percentage of interviews completed with restaurant Owners & Managers, a large majority of the restaurants were reluctant to provide time to be interviewed. Later tables seek to verify whether we witnessed any patterns between the type of business interviewed and their relative financial success during the past year.

Below is a graphical representation of the previous table. A majority of businesses [64%] in Chinatown remained at their respective locations for somewhere between 1 and 10 years. A third of businesses interviewed have existed there for 10+ years.

Tables 4 and 5 illustrate the employment figures as shared by the owners and managers of the stores that were interviewed. It should be noted that these figures may not be completely accurate as many store owners were hesitant to talk about the number of people working at the store. To work around this, interviews sometimes prompted a response from the interviewee, e.g. “Are there approximately 5 full time employees, 10 employees," etc.

Table 6 suggests the view that the Security Zone set up at 1 Police Plaza has adversely affected business in the Chinatown area is almost an even split between those interviewed for this study.

Additionally, Table 7 suggests that respondents were also equally split as to whether business had gone down in the past year or simply stayed the same. These “even rifts” in business outlook necessitate cross-tabulation of our results to identify any existing factors that affect the type of response given by those interviewed.

A cross-tabulation to verify whether those respondents who felt the Security Zone has had an affect also felt that business had gone down in the past year, resulted in Table 8 and the corresponding graph below [Figure 2]. The evidence suggests that these perceptions are consistent with each other.

One possibility was that these responses depended on which geographical district businesses were located in.

Tables 9 and 10 above suggest that businesses in the North of Canal Street district were once again, split regarding their views on the affect of the Security Zone and the change in business prospects since last year. Respondents in the Historic Chinatown area tended to oppose the Security Zone set up and those in the East of Bowery district were not as affected by the Security Zone. However, we believe a weak correlation exists between location and the affects of the Security Zone or changes in business since last year.

Tables 11, 12 and 13 illustrate responses cross-tabulated against various business types [we have omitted business types that did not have statistically significant samples]. Other than retail stores, all other business types generally did not find drastic affects on business due to the Security Zone at 1 Police Plaza. Moreover, these businesses did not find reason to leave their current location of business within the near future.

Our quantitative findings suggest there is a weak relationship at best, between where businesses are located or the type of business interviewed and their respective views of the Security Zone or how business has changed over the past year. However, feedback from our interviewing team suggested that those who did feel that the Security Zone was affecting their business prospects were very vocal and felt strongly about their opinions. Below are some examples of feedback that respondents provided when asked how the Security Zone had affected their businesses.

Retail:

Restaurants:

Jewelers:

Across business types, the main complaint from respondents was against the new traffic regulations that had been imposed since the set up of the Security Zone. There was a general consensus [even among those who did not feel that business had been strongly affected] that less parking space and traffic congestion made it difficult and less attractive to enter the Chinatown area.

Respondents were also asked what could be done to improve the situation. Below is a list of some of the suggestions provided by respondents separated by business district:

North of Canal Street:

Historic Chinatown:

East of Bowery

A review of the above responses supports our quantitative data. The majority of businesses in the North of Canal Street area seem to be more concerned with removing traffic congestion, increasing parking spaces and reducing the number of parking tickets handed out. In addition to similar complaints, the East of Bowery area focuses much more on increased promotion of Chinatown and related activities [festivities] and lowering rent than on the traffic problem. This illustrates a clear division in opinions across business district.

This article was provided by SIS International Research. Visit their website at www.sismarketresearch.com.

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