Fort Worth survey shows more women making Downtown home

May 19,2016

By Dylan Bradley

More women are living in downtown Fort Worth and they’re finding it convenient, safe and walkable, the most recent survey of downtown residents shows.

Women make up 52.9 percent of the downtown population, about 5.8 percent more than men, a Downtown Fort Worth Inc. survey shows. That’s up 3.4 percent from the last survey, done in 2011.

“I can walk from Lancaster Avenue all the way north to the courthouse and back, a two-mile route, and it’s perfectly safe,” said Donna Young, 55, who lives in the Texas and Pacific Lofts.

She was born in Fort Worth and moved downtown about 10 years ago. She said safety has never been a concern at any time of the day or night.

Downtown Fort Worth Inc., a nonprofit organization, received responses from 432 households of the 2,456 that were mailed the one-page survey in 2015. The survey has been done every two years since 2007.

Most of the women under 40 living downtown are single, the survey shows: Of women under the age of 25, about 85 percent are single and of women 25 to 40, about 76 percent are unmarried.

A total of 57.5 percent of respondents live in apartments and 42.5 percent live in condos/townhomes, DFWI research director Arrie Mitchell said in an email.

The survey shows 56 percent of residents said they chose to live in downtown for the lifestyle, followed by 18 percent who said the appeal was being close to work. About 49 percent commute less than a mile to work.

Young said the convenient, lively feel of downtown made it easy to leave her suburban home on the west side of town. She was working a job that was almost full-time travel and craving a social life.

“I realized if I didn’t do something different, I would spend every single Saturday and Sunday of my life maintaining my house and yard,” she said.

About 10 years after moving downtown, Young is president of the Fort Worth Downtown Neighborhood Alliance, a nonprofit organization founded by DFWI that helps connect neighbors, organizes events and helps connect citizens to city government.

Her favorite parts of living downtown: knowing someone no matter where she goes, a deeply diverse demographic, the Sundance Square Plaza and walkability.

“It’s a place to be that’s beautiful, safe, friendly,” she said. “It’s a community center, only it’s outside and beautiful, with fountains.”

The survey shows 97 percent reported feeling safe or very safe in downtown, and 99 percent of women said they felt safe during the day. At night, 88 percent of women reported feeling safe.

Don Matheson, 83, of the Sanger Lofts building, said he feels safe downtown.

“Not only is the Fort Worth patrol, but the Bass patrol is very visible,” he said. “When the exterminator comes in to spray in his routine way, the building management is always with him. You feel very safe downtown.”

The Fort Worth native lived in a small house with his wife Helen, 82, near TCU. When the maintenance became too much to handle, the couple started looking to downsize.

“We downsized, and upgraded,” Don said.

The community is young, enthusiastic and energetic, which Helen said is her favorite part.

The couple preferred leasing because all the maintenance is taken care of.

“We don’t have to do anything except open and close the door,” Helen said.

More education, higher income

The survey shows downtown residents have higher levels of education, and higher income per person than the city as a whole.

About 85 percent of respondents reported at least a bachelor’s degree. In contrast, 26.5 percent of Fort Worth’s population has a bachelor’s degree or higher, according to the survey.

Close to half of respondents, 48.9 percent, make more than $100,000 per year, almost double the average Fort Worth salary of $52,492, according to U.S. Census data.

That money is being spent the most in restaurants and second-most in bars and pubs, followed by convenience and drug stores with retail and clothiers last, the survey revealed.

It seems men are spending more than women in downtown restaurants, bars, pubs and convenience and drug stores. The only category in which women outspent men was retail and clothiers, with an average of $188 per month, about $88 more than men.

The average downtown resident spends about $1,229 monthly, which adds up to about $4 million spent in downtown per month, according to the survey.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article78578182.html#storylink=cpy