Barbadians appear to be divided on whether Bridgetown is ready for high-rise residential development, while only one in three is willing to live there and even fewer said such a development was likely to take place any time soon, according to a survey by real estate company Terra Caribbean.
But high-rise city dwelling would be fine for young professionals, said the great majority of the 300 people surveyed, even as most also gave low marks for the almost 400-year-old capital as a mecca of shopping, business and recreation. Few said they visited frequently.
The results of the survey on how people felt about living in the island’s capital were presented Friday at the latest in a series of the online forum, Revitalising Bridgetown, organised by the Barbados Town Planning Society.
According to the survey, half of the respondents said they believed The City was ready for residential living, said Chief Operating Officer of Terra Caribbean, Hayden Hutton.
He continued: “Then we went on to ask would you actually live in a high rise in the city centre. At least a third (32 per cent) said they would still live in the high rise in the city centre.
“You have to control that because the reality is that if we are asking people who would live in a high rise anywhere because they want to live in a house with a garden and a white picket fence out in the country so you do have to control for that,” said Hutton.
Hutton said it was not surprising that 81 per cent of the respondents believed it was more suitable for young professionals to live in high-rise buildings in The City.
Just over half of the respondents – 52 per cent – said they believed it would be more suitable for students, another 43 per cent said Welcome Stampers, 31 per cent said expatriates, 22 per cent said retirees and eight per cent said it would be more suitable for families.
But there was lukewarm support for the likelihood that there would be residential development within the next five years in the capital. Only four per cent said it was very likely and another 10 per cent said it was likely.
Hutton said: “So 50 per cent said yes, let’s do it and only 14 per cent said we are likely to do it. Why is that? Maybe because there has been a lot of talk about it, maybe they think it is a chicken and egg, who knows?”
Government has cited the now-decommissioned seven-storey Treasury Building for housing development. The building that once housed the Treasury Department, the Central Bank of Barbados, Inland Revenue Department and finally the Barbados Revenue Authority that dominated the city skyline with its commanding view of the Careenage and Heroes Square from 1967 until 1982 when the Tom Adams Financial Complex rose from the Spry Street area.
In March this year, the state-run National Housing Corporation broke ground for high-rise residencies at Whitepark Road on the edge of The City.
When it came to visiting Bridgetown, only 12 per cent said they did so frequently, 14 per cent said they do not and 74 per cent said they infrequently visited.
For those who visited Bridgetown, the majority (69 per cent) said they did so for the purpose of shopping, 35 per cent went for business, 17 per cent for banking, 14 per cent said other, while six per cent said their primary reason was for restaurant/entertainment, A mere one per cent said nightlife.
When asked how they generally feel about The City as a destination to shop and do business, only 20 per cent were positive, and 40 per cent negative while 40 per cent were neutral.
More than half of residents (62 per cent) said they believed Bridgetown was worse when compared to other central business districts across the island, 25 per cent of them believed it was about the same and 13 per cent said Bridgetown was better in comparison to other central business districts.
One of the questions on the survey was for respondents to name their two main concerns about The City. The top concerns were crime, general cleanliness, and difficulty in parking, 42 per cent each. This was followed by traffic congestion (39 per cent), lack of green spaces (25 per cent) and lack of entertainment options (9 per cent).
“What that means is that a lot of the respondents came up with the top four themselves regardless of which was their top two. Again, there was really no surprise to any of those,” said Hutton.
He said respondents were keen on seeing significant infrastructure investment in The City, refurbishment and reuse of old buildings, improvements in the crime and security issues, improvement in traffic congestion and parking, cleanliness and beautification and redevelopment of walking and bike-friendly spaces, and improved amenities and attraction.
Hutton said given that there were plans over the years to revitalise Bridgetown there was no shortage of ideas or policy framework for concessions.
“There is this huge passion for this city centre and we think for residential,” he said. “For some reason here we are again in the city centre, why is that? Maybe it is that the cows have finally come home.”
(marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb)
