Redevelopment committee doing phone survey

If you get a phone call this weekend asking your opinions about Carson City's downtown, take 10 minutes to answer the questions.

The Carson City Redevelopment Authority Citizen's Committee is paying about $10,000 for a professional phone survey of 400 Carson residents to find out, in part, what draws people downtown.

Redevelopment Authority Chairwoman Robin Williamson said the survey, conducted by InfoSearch of Reno, will also try to determine "what the average person thinks is the history of Carson City."

"Culture, that's one of our basic foundations," Williamson said. "Do we think we're a mining town, a railroad town, do we identify ourselves as the state capital? Knowing that, we can know how to focus our efforts... and build on our strengths."

The redevelopment committee spent about 1-1/2 years working on a strategic plan on which to focus their efforts downtown. The committee developed the theme, "Downtown Carson City ... timeless" to guide the "economic, physical and aesthetic revitalization" of downtown. A focus on history is a large part of the plan.