Cape Town CCID's residential survey results are out

Cape Town inner city residents are mostly between 25 and 44, employed, work near their residences and choose to play there too. They're also savvy about issues such as energy conservation and like using green public spaces in the CBD. Some interesting findings of the Cape Town Central City Improvement District's (CCID) second annual residential survey, which this year saw a significant increase of 33% in respondents, says Senior Researcher Andrew Fleming.

Photo credit: http://www.capetowncid.co.za/

Nearly 50% of survey respondents revealed that they own their homes. The largest percentage (19%) have been living here for between five and 10 years, but the biggest surprise according to Fleming is that 15% have been living in the CBD for more than 10 years and 50% of the respondents overall expect to remain for at least another four more years.

"This finding shows very clearly that it's not only young people who want to live in the buzz of a central city," says Fleming.

When asked what kinds of additional retail opportunities respondents wanted in the CBD, the top three were more restaurants, retail that stayed open for longer hours (beyond 17h00) and more delicatessen-type food stores. This provides excellent information for potential businesses looking to locate in or relocate to the CBD.

Chairperson of the CCID Rob Kane, says: "Understanding what residents want is particularly important when you consider the growth in demand of after hour activities and retail. This is consistent with what you would find in other downtowns with a strong residential component."

Additional findings included:

91.3% of residents reported being happy or very happy to be living in the CBD - up from 87.9% last year;
The top three professional occupations of residents are architects and engineers, media, marketing and communications specialists and those employed in creative industries;
30% are Capetonians, 12% originate from elsewhere in the Western Cape, 44% have relocated from other parts of South Africa and 14% are foreign;
CBD residents are thinking "green": 63% of residents have switched to energy saving light bulbs, 61% are actively engage in power saving, 53% recycle, 39% have geyser timers and 42% enthusiastically seek out locally grown food retailers;
67% are employed full time and 29% are self-employed.

Residents also do a lot of their eating and drinking locally. Nearly 85% of them visit local coffee shops and 68% frequent local restaurants at least once a week. And while their entertainment hangouts tend to be Kloof, Long and Bree streets, their yen for greenery in 81% of residents is sated by the Company's Garden.

The CCID residential survey is conducted annually, and anyone who lives within the CCID boundaries who would like to be added to the database (to take part next year) should email az.oc.dicnwotepac@aziza.