Managing%20Public%20Access:%20An%20Analysis%20of%20Beachgoers%20in%20Wrightsville%20Beach,%20North%20Carolina

1
Managing Public AccessAn Analysis of Beachgoers
in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina

• Mark T. Imperial, Ph.D.
• Master of Public Administration Program
• University of North Carolina at Wilmington
• imperialm_at_uncw.edu
• http//people.uncw.edu/imperialm/
• Chris Dumas, Ph.D.
• Department of Economics and Finance
• University of North Carolina at Wilmington
• dumasc_at_uncw.edu

2
Objectives of the Study

• Determine who the beachgoers are and where they
  come from
• Help argue for greater return of property tax
  revenue and services from New Hanover County
• Help argue for additional funds from the Tourism
  Development Authority (TDA)
• Obtain information that can be used for planning
  and management purposes
• Information incorporated into CAMA Land Use Plan
• Help determine how to allocate services
• Feedback on services and policy questions (e.g.,
  cost of parking)
• Two samples
• Typical summer weekday and weekend day

3
Wrightsville Beach, NC
4
Wrightsville Beach, NC

• Population
• Year round 2,604 (declined 11.3 since 1990)
• Seasonal approximately 11,000 on a typical
  summer weekend
• Additional visitors approximately 8,000
• Build out community, trend is towards
  redevelopment
• Basic Demographics
• Education 60 college or greater (31 in the
  County)
• Median Age 37.1 (2nd lowest)
• Racial Composition 98.1 white

5
Wrightsville Beach, NC

• Income
• Per Capita Income 36,575 (4th highest among NC
  beaches)
• Median Household Income 55,903 (6th)
• Median Family Income 71,641 (1st)
• Housing
• Median Value of Owner Occupied Housing 480,600
  (3rd)
• Rent 80.8 is above 750/month (only 42.4 in
  County)
• Multi-family units 58 of housing units
• 41.8 of Housing Units Occupied Year Round 41.8
  (7th)
• Trend towards greater seasonal housing

6
(No Transcript)
7
(No Transcript)
8
(No Transcript)
9
Public Access Facilities

• Beach accesses 44 (8 of sites)
• Length 4 miles
• Public access points/mile 10.9 (2nd in NC)
• CAMA signs 43 (10.5)
• Parking lot spaces 605 (8.8)
• Parking spaces/mile 150.1 (most in NC)
• Accesses w/uncounted parking 38 (874 spaces)
• Uncounted parking spaces/mile 218.5
• Dune walkways 8 (2)
• Overlook decks/gazebos 6 (6.8)

10
Beach Access Facilities

• Handicap Accesses
• To dune crest 9 (7.6 of all NC)
• To deck/gazebo 6 (9/8)
• To beach 6 (8.6)
• Handicap parking spaces 20 (8.7)
• Restroom facilities 3 (6.7)
• Showers 3 (5.4)
• Picnic tables 0 (only 13 statewide)
• Vehicle access 6 (6.7)
• Bike racks 3 (2.5)
• Lifeguards 10 stands, down from 12

11
(No Transcript)
12
(No Transcript)
13
Methodological Challenges

• Approximately 4 miles of beach
• Beachgoers are not normally distributed
• Public access sites
• Parking availability
• Multi-unit, high density structures hotels
• Need to randomly sample groups of beachgoers
• Need to randomly sample adult in a group of
  beachgoers
• Recruiting, training, and managing 20 to 30
  surveyors working for 8 hours in 90 degree heat

14
Distribution of Beachgoers

• Rented a pilot and small plane
• Flew the length of the beach at 500 ft.
• Digital video and still photos for the length of
  the beach
• Counts
• Used the photos to break beach into 118 segments
  using visible landmarks
• Team of 2 used videos to count all people,
  walking, sitting, swimming, etc. and averaged
  their counts
• Data aggregated into 10 grids, then 8

15
(No Transcript)
16
(No Transcript)
17
(No Transcript)
18
(No Transcript)
19
(No Transcript)
20
Distribution of BeachgoersSaturday, June 21,
2003 _at_ 130 PM
21
Distribution of BeachgoersTuesday, June 21, 2003
_at_ 330 PM
22
Distribution of Beachgoers
23
Knowing DistributionProvides Useful Information

• It is unlikely that there are more than about
  8,000 people on the beach at any one time
• Much less than previously thought
• Only 1,479 parking spaces
• Knowing distribution of beachgoers could improve
  service delivery
• Linear programming models can be used to optimize
  the allocation of services like placement of
  lifeguard stands and trash barrels
• Information used to site new facilities (e.g.,
  restrooms)

24
Survey Instrument

• Questionnaire with open- and closed-ended
  question to find out such things as
• Where people came from
• How they traveled to the beach
• Duration of stay
• Factors affection choice of specific beach
  location
• Demographic information
• Three versions with different section of
  questions on
• Spending behavior
• Contingent behavior on response to increased
  parking costs
• Perceptions of service delivery to residents and
  visitors
• Questionnaires administered by surveyors

25
Surveyors Training

• Surveyors allocated to 8 grids using a computer
  algorithm
• Ranged from 1 to 10
• Computer model also produced a skip pattern
• Made sure experienced surveyor in each grid to
  help supervise
• Training on
• Reading questionnaire and collect data
• Randomly sampling groups and adults within groups
• Reading the informed consent and not interview
  people under 18
• Using GPS meters
• Research team kept in touch via cell phone and
  collected morning surveys at lunch

26
(No Transcript)
27
Sampling Strategy

• Randomly sampling groups
• Start at beginning of grid and identify 1st group
  of beachgoers
• Count off systematically until reaching skip
  number
• Random number card used to pick first group and
  then counted off groups using skip number
• Moved systematically in different ways depending
  o density of groups
• Randomly sampling adult
• Picked an adult and counted off systematically
  giving each a number
• Used the next random number from the card to
  select the adult
• Asked to participate and read the informed
  consent
• Procedures used to ensure that everyone had an
  equal probability of getting sampled

28
(No Transcript)
29
(No Transcript)
30
Data Entry

• At conclusion of AM/PM sessions data was checked
  to ensure it had appropriate identifying
  information
• Questionnaire coded using software identical to
  that used for telephone surveys to construct the
  computer database
• Multiple reference points used to identify
  incorrectly entered data using cross tabulations
• Data was checked a final time for potential
  errors and variables to assist in the analysis
  were created

31
Response Rates
32
Demographics of Beachgoers

• Sex
• Male 37.4
• Female 62.2
• Race
• White 95.2
• Education
• High school 9.5
• Some college 24.9
• College or greater 64.9
• Income
• 16.6 lt 35,000
• 28.6 gt 100,000

33
Where do People Come From?

• North Carolina 75.4
• Mostly New Hanover County, few from Brunswick and
  Pender Counties
• Raleigh metro area is biggest source of NC
  visitors
• Out of State 24.5
• Virginia, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Maryland, New
  Jersey, New York, Ohio, Illinois, Texas, etc.
• Out of state visitors come from all over
• How did they discover Wrightsville Beach?
• Grew up here/local resident 22.9
• Family, friends, word of mouth 57.4

34
Group Characteristics

• Group size
• Mean 4.33
• Range 1 to 31
• Years coming to Wrightsville Beach
• Mean 12.16
• Median 8
• Range 0 to 65
• When do you typically frequent the beach?
• During the week 16.2
• Weekends 31.8
• Vacation 32.1

35
Primary Purpose of Your Trip to the Beach Today
36
Current Trip Characteristics

• Number of expected trips in 2003
• Mean 13.03 trips
• Median 3 trips
• Length of trip
• Mean 4.11days
• Median 3 days
• Range 1 to 90 days
• Total hours on beach
• Mean 4.59 hrs
• Median 4 hrs
• How did they travel to beach?
• Drive/Passenger in car 69
• Walk 29.6

37
Where did they park?
38
Other Parking Questions

• How long to find a space?
• Mean 4.07 minutes.
• Median 1 minute
• Range 0 to 90 minutes.
• Did they park in the area they wanted?
• Yes 91.7
• In the last year, did you try to visit but went
  elsewhere because there was no parking?
• Yes 31.1
• Number of blocks to walk to the beach
• Mean .9
• Range 0 to 9

39
Factors Used to Select Specific Location on Beach
40
Factors Used to Select Specific Location on Beach

• Have they been to same location before?
• Yes 79.9
• Most important factors in choosing location?
• Near where you parked 27.6
• Near condo 20.3
• Near few people 7.9
• Near good swimming 3.9
• Near people know/meet 3.7
• Near good surfing 3.6
• Near restrooms 3
• Near lifeguards 2.4
• Near a lot of people 1.4

41
Spending Behavior

• Looked at the total spent individually
• Wrightsville Beach
• Locally but off Wrightsville Beach
• Outside the local area
• Spending by categories such as
• Parking
• Gasoline
• Restaurants
• Groceries
• Beach gear
• Entertainment
• Hotel/Model/Condo
• Rental car/air travel

42
Spending Behavior
43
Grading Beach Services
44
Wrightsville Beach Compared to Other Beaches
45
Overall Satisfaction
46
Directions for Future Research

• Analyze the economic data collected
• Travel cost models
• Economic impact models
• Contingent valuation models
• Random utility models
• Analyze management data
• Parking prices
• Provision of services
• Perceptions of services
• Better management of beach traffic
• Follow-up survey planned Summer 05

47
Questions?
48
Age of Respondents
49
Education
50
Income