Capitol Hill Customer Survey Summary

From March 15 through April 15, EMMS partnered with The Hill is Home to conduct an informal Capitol Hill Customer Survey! Our objective was to start collecting information on how people shop and dine on, and interact with, the corridor, and begin using relevant results to guide programming and support our businesses. The survey was distributed by EMMS and THIH through e-newsletters and social media, and a total of 500 responses were received.

See some of the results below...

The majority of respondents live on Capitol Hill, with 142 from 20002 and 269 from 20003. Of those living on Capitol Hill, the majority, 261, work elsewhere.

Some things we expected - such as the majority of respondents buy groceries at a typical grocery store on or around the Hill and that the main advantages to shopping/dining on Capitol Hill are the stores proximity to work or home (475) and that it supports local businesses (394).

We did not expect:

- that besides online, most respondents travel to Virginia or Maryland to do their non-grocery shopping;

- the main disadvantages to shopping and dining on Capitol Hill were high prices (265) and poor selection of goods/services (179), with lack of parking coming in third (135); and

- the amount of requests for live music, movies, kid-friendly activities, and general activation in and around Eastern Market.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the survey! We look forward to working to address some of the expressed concerns, and to using this information to better equip our businesses.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a brief summary of the survey results. Interested EMMS businesses can request the full survey data by emailing info@easternmarketmainstreet.org.