WESTWOOD—Residents of Emerson, Hillsdale, Montvale, Park Ridge, River Vale, the Township of Washington, Westwood, and Woodcliff Lake, your views are among those sought in a survey aiming to show changes and opportunities stemming from the remarkable near-year and a half we’ve just lived through.
The Covid-19 pandemic caused an enormous shift in work habits for residents of the Pascack Valley. To better understand the ramifications on local economies, Westwood Mayor Ray Arroyo assigned Economic Recovery Task Force member Lauren Letizia to draft a data-gathering survey.
Questions are designed to collect information on how job-related habits were impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. They cover commuting changes, frequency of shopping, dining, and receiving services in each of the towns within the Pascack Valley.
You can access it at tinyurl.com/PVWorkSurvey through Aug. 22.
The aim, said Letizia, who also is co-chair of the borough’s Celebrate Westwood committee, is to compare lifestyle patterns before and “post” pandemic.
She told Pascack Press on July 27 that results will be considered against demographic and consumer data compiled by the borough planner as part of a project initiated by Arroyo “to better understand Westwood’s commercial hub and market catchment.”
And she promised respondents would remain anonymous and that no personal information would be requested.
“The May 2021 research project illuminated many of the borough’s economic strengths and areas of saturation that have made Westwood an attractive place to operate a business, while highlighting areas of potential growth,” Letizia said.
Looking at the numbers
Letizia said Arroyo directed Borough Planner Ed Snieckus of Burgis Associates, based in Westwood, to explore the location-based market intelligence offered by ESRI ArcGIS Business Analyst after she and Camille Sasena, chairperson of the Historic Preservation Commission, recommended it.
Letizia said the product combines “demographic, business, lifestyle, spending, and census data with map-based analytics.”
She said this data-driven approach is common for “real estate groups, marketing firms, and corporations looking to better understand their markets, customers, and clients.”
Moreover, she said, the approach can have “real applications to local planning, as taxes on commercial properties can significantly offset residential property taxes in a community.”
She added, “A strong, diversified ratable base is a critical component of a thriving municipality, supporting a healthy, balanced budget.”
According to Letizia, the borough’s Central Business District, centered on Westwood Avenue, represents an aggregated “most important ratable” for the municipality, “bringing in substantial and reliable tax revenue every year.”
She said Westwood, the self-described “Hub of the Pascack Valley,” has long enjoyed a thriving and energetic downtown perhaps dating back to before the borough’s incorporation, in 1894.
She also said the Westwood Planning Board, Zoning Board, and Building Department had kept “watchful eyes” on decades of changing consumer tastes and needs.
Those years saw the borough’s commercial core shift incrementally from “basic postal, banking, grocery, and clothing needs in the early 20th century to fashion, home goods, services, and car dealerships in the mid-century, to its current iteration of multicultural restaurants, boutique retail shops, and specialized services,” she said.
She added that, as the area continues to recover from Covid-19 shutdowns and attendant economic shocks, “the impacts of demographic shifts—after a very hot and ongoing residential real estate market—and work-life changes must be carefully analyzed to better comprehend potential impacts on the municipality.”
Letizia said the survey seeks input from folks in other towns in the Pascack Valley, “as well as anyone who works in the Pascack Valley”, because so many people avail themselves of shopping, dining, and recreation here.
Participation in the survey is anonymous. Although it asks general questions for sorting and demographic purposes, it does not record or solicit personal information. (Don’t worry, you’re not going to wind up on a mailing list.)
She said the final question gives participants the opportunity to share their email address if they would like to be entered to win a participation prize, but answers will otherwise not be traceable back to any individual.