Dunedin business survey finds strong affection for downtown, worries about growth and infrastructure

The City of Dunedin presented results of its 2025 business survey to the City Commission on Sept. 2, reporting 279 responses gathered April 21'May 8 from an email campaign, social media, the Dunedin newsletter and door-to-door outreach.

The survey, led by strategy and sustainability manager Nicole Delfino and researcher Dr. Neely, found the top strengths for businesses are Dunedin's unique small-town character, walkable downtown and festivals; the most-cited concerns were parking and traffic, housing affordability and the pace of development. Respondents were more likely to say retaining existing businesses was more important than attracting new ones.

Why it matters: City leaders said the results can help prioritize near-term choices such as downtown parking and messaging around events, and inform longer-term planning for growth and infrastructure. Commissioners asked staff to break survey results down by business location and age, and requested cross-tabs showing how answers differ for downtown Main Street, downtown off-Main Street, and other corridors.

Survey details and context: Dr. Neely emphasized that 279 is a larger response than prior years but not all respondents completed every question; where open-ended questions were common he reported absolute counts rather than percentages to avoid implying full completion. The questionnaire opened April 21 and closed May 8 and contained about 37 substantive questions plus six demographic items. Staff reported direct email to about 800 business tax-receipt addresses, a Dunedin newsletter with 13,000 subscribers, social posts shared by the chamber and Dunedin Beacon, and door-to-door distribution of postcards to plazas and corridors including Broadway, the Causeway, Bayshore, the 580 corridor and Pinehurst.

Key findings discussed by commissioners and staff: - Community strengths: Safety, charm, walkable downtown, festivals and events emerged repeatedly as the main reasons businesses locate in Dunedin. - Parking garage: About half of respondents said a proposed parking garage would positively affect downtown businesses; the plurality of non-downtown respondents said it would have no impact; ~1 in 20 said it would have a negative impact. - Infrastructure concerns: Parking shortages and congestion were the top infrastructure concerns; storm-related issues such as marina damage, flooding and drainage also appeared across responses. - Housing and workforce: Affordable housing appeared both as a multiple-choice item with mixed scores and as a frequent open-ended concern, with commenters tying affordability to workforce availability and business retention. - Transportation programs: Pinellas Trail and golf-cart/bike infrastructure were seen as "very positive" by a segment of respondents, but many businesses reported "no impact," particularly those outside downtown.

Commission direction and next steps: Commissioners asked staff to prepare cross-tabbed analyses by location and business age, to share findings with the chamber and other boards, and to produce a formal action plan incorporating commission feedback. Staff indicated they will follow up with deeper cross-tabs upon direction and already plan to present a communications/action plan after gathering input.

Ending: City staff asked commissioners for any additional priorities to include in the action plan and said they will return with more detailed breakdowns and proposed next steps, including targeted outreach and follow-up survey refinements.