What is Bel Air? What do you like about the town? What don't you like?
If someone you knew was planning to visit, what would you recommend they see first?
The town's planning department earlier this year used the online tool Survey Monkey to get some insight into how people view the town.
What they found in the small sample is that Bel Air is known first and foremost to be a center of government, and its historical legacy is one of its most positive traits.
What don't people like about Bel Air? No surprise: the traffic.
Getting deeper into the survey, the town planners also found people like to visit downtown Bel Air to shop and eat more than any other destination the town offers, including the hospital, Harford Mall, the trails and parks and government facilities.
Downtown's pleasures, faults
A Fallston couple visiting downtown Bel Air for lunch last week expressed frustration with the parking situation, but said they like to visit.
Tina Butta noted the difficulty of finding a public parking space among the spots reserved for those with permits in the county government-owned lot next to the Main Street Oyster House.
She and her husband, Vince Butta Jr., said they enjoy visiting downtown, especially during events such as First Fridays and the annual summertime Maryland State BBQ Bash, but they said they want to see parking improve.
"I think they should get rid of the [parking] meters," Vince Butta said, indicating a meter along Main Street.
In the survey, downtown was picked as the destination respondents would most recommend to visitors.
The Buttas said they had some vacation time and decided to spend it visiting destinations in Harford County.
"I like the landscape, the heartscape [sculptures], the quaintness of it," Vince Butta said of downtown Bel Air.
He and his wife said they enjoy restaurants such as The Orient, but Tina said some of the shops are "high-end, I think not in my budget." They made their first visit to the Sunny Day Cafe last week.
Subjective choices
The town sent emails to 500 people asking them to take the survey and 91 responded, Planning Director Kevin Small said. The addresses came from an existing database developed between the town and Bel Air Downtown Alliance, he said.
The questions asked in the survey had multiple choice answers, so the findings are somewhat subjective. There was a possibility to comment on some questions, though only a handful of the respondents did.
Small, who discussed the survey with town commissioners and staff during a retreat in early May, said the overall response was within the range expected. He also said they may try doing another online survey, after making some refinements.
Respondents were given 10 descriptions and asked to select three "you feel best reflect the character of Bel Air."
The one most chosen was: "The county seat with government services and facilities," followed by: "A historically significant community with a meaningful legacy." Those two received 69 and 50 responses, respectively. Third highest was: "A small town with walkable neighborhoods," with 38 responses.
There was a significant drop-off from there to: "A suburb of Baltimore serving as a bedroom community for commuters," 22 responses; "A thriving municipality with many civic events and parks," 21 responses and "A crossroads with busy roads and bustling traffic," 20.
The other choices were: "A diverse town rich in cultural, ethnic and generational potential," 16 responses; "A center of evening entertainment with taverns and nightclubs," 14; "An urban center rich with shopping and dining," 13; and "A community rich in public art and artistic venues," seven.
The respondents were next asked which of the above 10 descriptions "reflects on Bel Air in the most positive way."
"The historically significant community" description ranked first with 26, followed by "a small town with walkable neighborhoods," with 18 and "a thriving municipality with many civic events and parks" with 15.
On this section, the county seat description was fourth with 10. The remaining six elicited single-digit votes.
Respondents were next asked which of the 10 descriptions "reflects on Bel Air in a negative way."
"A crossroads with busy streets and bustling traffic," received 42 of 90 negative votes (It did not get a single vote under the positive section.), followed by "a suburb of Baltimore" with 31. The other eight choices received just a few votes, if any.
Rating destinations
The survey listed 10 Bel Air destinations, which respondents were asked to rank by importance "to the character and identity of the town" on a scale of one to five, with one being most important.
Of the 10, county and state courts and government offices received 51 total votes, followed by downtown shopping and dining, 50; Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, 47; local parks and trails, 47; local educational facilities and schools, 41; Harford Mall and Routes 1 and 24 shopping and dining, 39; local historical sites like the Hays House and Historical Society, 32; public art and performing art venues, 30; event venues such as Liriodendron and Rockfield Manor, 30; and the Bel Air Reckord Armory and visitors center, 28.
Bel Air downtown shopping and dining got 25 votes as the "most important" and a weighted average score of 1.90 for its 50 total votes. Both were the most in the survey, where the lowest average score was the best.
Historical sites placed second with a score average of 2.53 but only nine most important votes, followed by educational facilities and schools at 2.65 (13 most important votes) and local parks and trails at 2.70 (seven most important votes).
Though county and state courts and government offices had the second highest "most important" vote with 14 and highest total votes with 51, its weighed average was 2.82, as more respondents considered the destination moderately or least important compared to other choices, particularly downtown.
Small said he was surprised that Harford Mall and Route 24 and Route 1 shopping and dining had the highest, and thus the worst weighted average of the 10 destinations at 3.95, as 21 of its 39 votes were "least important." The responses about downtown and the mall area were essentially a reverse of each other, he noted.
The Bel Air Armory and visitors center also had a high weighted average score of 3.54, somewhat surprising given the number of well-attended events held there annually such as the gun show, chocolate and candy festival, Christmas activities and the "House of Cards" open casting calls. The armory received just one most important vote.
Public art and performance had a weighted average of 3.43 (two most important votes); Upper Chesapeake Medical Center had a 3.17 average (five most important votes); and events venues had a 2.80 average (two most important).
Most visits
When respondents were asked what they frequented most, 36 of 91 said downtown shopping and dining, 17 said parks and trails, 15 said Route 1 and 24 shopping and dining and 10 said county and state courts and offices. None of the other six received more than five votes.
Asked what destinations are most difficult to find, 20 of 89 each said historic sites and art and performing arts venues, 14 said local event venues and 11 said parks and trails. None of the other six received more than seven votes.
And, when asked what destination they would direct a guest to visit, 49 of 91 said downtown shopping and dining, 13 said local events venues and 11 each said parks and trails and historic sites.
Peri Makres and her son, Gus, both of Fallston, made their first visit to downtown last week. They walked down Main Street and checked out the menu at the Main Street Tower restaurant as they looked for a spot to have lunch.
"It's a beautiful day, and we wanted to enjoy the weather and find someplace new to eat," Peri Makres said.
She said they did not have any problems with traffic or finding a place to park, and that "everyone is mindful of each other [when] crossing streets."
They also complimented Main Street for being pedestrian-friendly.
"We wanted to get out, get moving and eat somewhere, just something irregular from a normal day," Gus Makres said.
Finding your way
The survey also asked what of five kinds information should be identified for visitors, with 36 of 91 choosing public parking, 26 current event locations and 14 choosing public restrooms.
Respondents to the online survey also were asked what type of wayfinding assistance would be beneficial for visitors.
Signs showing distance and direction received the highest response at 42, followed by identification signs at each destination (38) and consistent graphics and materials for signs (27) and familiar color and lettering for signs (20).
When asked what other methods of wayfinding would be beneficial, phone apps (35), interactive town website pages (31) and links among town, county and state information sources (24) received the highest responses.
Among comments on the latter were: "consistent naming of landmarks/shops" and "no matter what you do, include a phone number so people can talk with someone."
Small said they are working on developing an interactive wayfinding app for smartphones.