According to a new survey sponsored by SOS Hull, residents and visitors do not want the Hull Redevelopment Authority land to be heavily developed.

The survey was conducted as a pro-bono project by Humans, Not Consumers, for SOS (Save our Space) Hull, an organization that opposes large-scale development of the HRA property. Between April and July, 631 Hull residents and 239 visitors were asked 20 questions, focusing on perceptions about Hull and what respondents believe would help the town’s future.

When asked to select their top several choices for the use of the land, 80% of Hull residents surveyed want walkable park space, while 57% want a music or event performance space. Only 7% of residents surveyed would like the land developed into condominiums, according to Erin Swenson Gorrall, a Hull resident and founder of Humans, Not Consumers.

Additional findings of the survey of Hull residents include:

• 65% see the cost of climate change as the biggest issue in the future.

• 62% see the overdevelopment of land by private investors as the biggest issue in the future – more important than taxes, schools, traffic, and crime.

• 63% believe halting additional condo and apartment developments will help Hull in the future.

With a population of just more than 10,000 people and 631 Hull resident respondents, Gorrall said the survey size is statistically significant and offers a 99% confidence with a +/- 5% margin of error.

To determine if SOS Hull member responses swayed the survey results, Gorrall looked at the data after excluding the responses from SOS Hull members. While 99 members of SOS Hull participated in the survey, when those respondents were removed, the survey still found that walkable park space (79%) and a music or event performance space (56%) were the most desired uses of the HRA land. Just 8% of non-SOS members were in favor of condominiums and apartments.

Other choices that ranked significantly higher than condominiums for non-SOS Hull members include pop-up retail (26%), a community and cultural center (25%), a fitness space (24%), a dog park (23%), a skate/bike/surf park (20%), parking (16%), and having no development of any kind (18%).

“My 20-year background in market research gave me the skills to help share the larger perspective of Hull residents,” said Gorrall, who is considering presenting the full survey results this fall in a public forum. “I’m excited to share the results with the broader community, as I believe the unbiased data should help guide critical decisions that will impact Hull’s future for years to come. Decisions made today will have a lasting impact on this beautiful community, and the responsible thing for leaders is to make these decisions with data that demonstrates what residents and visitors want, not simply listen to and be influenced by the loudest voices in town.”

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