FARMINGTON — A Farmington Downtown Association survey conducted this year found that a lot of people like the downtown.

There were a lot of positive comments voiced including “friendly,” “quaint,” “charming,” and “very nice,” Craig Freshley of Good Group Decisions told a small group who gathered recently for the second Community Conversation, “A Strong Downtown, Mapping the Future.”

Freshley has worked on strategic planning efforts with the downtown organization to continue “the momentum of encouraging downtown vitality,” he said.

“It’s up to us to keep our town’s energy up and moving forward,” Donna Wheeler, vice president of the downtown association, said as she introduced Freshley.

A longtime favorite, Mickey’s Hallmark, closed in 2008 and no one wanted to see a trend develop, she said.

With the help of Freshley and work from 22 local supporters, the group embarked on a volunteer-led survey of 204 people in the downtown area done during different seasons. They asked people questions such as why they were there, whether parking was an issue and what they thought would help the downtown area.

Several wanted to see more variety downtown, more and different restaurants, including ethnic ones, more clothing stores and a place to get office supplies, he said. Parking and store hours were concerns raised about downtown. Students voiced more concerns about parking than residents, while more visitors found parking wasn’t that much of a problem, he said.

Overall, visitors were enthusiastic about downtown Farmington while students were less satisfied with downtown than residents. People particularly liked the friendliness of downtown salespeople.

While nearly half of those surveyed were residents of Farmington, another quarter said they live in towns less than 30 miles away and another 21 percent live outside the 30 mile radius, he said.

The primary reason indicated most for coming to Farmington was to eat out or get coffee, followed by those who were there to shop and some to visit the bank or post office. Most intended to do several things while they were there, he said.

People were looking for groceries and specialty foods, clothing, gifts and books. They particularly wanted varied restaurants, ethnic, upscale, more affordable and some chain restaurants, he said.

After discussing the results, Freshley asked participants to write down their ideas for downtown Farmington which he then taped on a wall in categories.

A variety of positive ideas flowed, including encouraging all stores to be open at least one night a week, sidewalk benches, more variety in stores, more historic preservation, more interaction with the University of Maine at Farmington, art walks through stores and street musicians, a solution to overnight parking and more.

People also voiced a need to make a trip downtown “an experience.” Adding special things like Everyday Music’s playing music for those on Broadway or Tranten’s Grocery Store providing used books and tables so patrons can read while enjoying their pizza, something that makes it an experience.

People wanted more events and festivals, ones rooted in the local culture such as a Fiddlehead Festival.

Each participant then tacked three dots on what categories or items they thought most important. The top four chosen were longer store hours, new businesses, events and activities and engaging citizens in the downtown’s future.

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