With its empty storefronts, littered streets and nightfall transformation from small shopping district to desert town, it?s easy to see that West Side Avenue is a shell of its former self. Recently, however, several people and organizations have set out to steer the neighborhood ? which is home to Lincoln Park, Hudson Mall, the West Side Theater and two of Jersey City?s higher education facilities ? in a different direction.

In early June, the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation (JCEDC) sent out surveys and put up signs advertising WestSideSurvey.com, asking people across Jersey City, especially those who live, work, or shop in or near the area, to tell them what they wanted for the often-overlooked commercial district. The survey was paid for with Urban Enterprise Zone funding and is part of a $100,000 study that could determine if a Special Improvement District should be created for West Side.

Dawn Niles of the West Side Community Alliance says the community has a lot to gain if it were an SID. ?A beautiful streetscape, safety and the hope to revitalize this once-busy corridor with art-inspired districts,? she says. ?(Becoming an SID could) make it walkable and bring and support shops the community truly needs.?

Urban-Enterprise Zone Director Roberta Farber said while they were aiming for 400 responses in eight weeks, they were able to get 1,116 in only four.

?The virtue of having such a high level of response is that it provides greater certainty of the consensus of the opinion of this community,? she said, noting that the margin of error therefore drops significantly. ?For example, if 25 percent of the respondents told us that they want a seafood restaurant ? just a hypothetical example ? then we can be sure that local desire for a seafood restaurant ranges from 22 to 28 percent of the populace. That higher level of accuracy could make the difference in successfully recruiting the seafood restaurant.?

She noted that the survey made a distinction between regular members of the community, which totaled 891 responses, and students at St. Peter?s or New Jersey City University, which gave 225 responses. ?The two groups took virtually the same survey, but we are now able to isolate the students as a group and determine what it would take to get them to venture off campus, and shop or dine more on West Side Avenue,? she said.

Farber said in late July that the results of the survey were still being tabulated. Whatever the group finds could greatly affect the community.More