Visitors Want and NEED Better Signage

DCVB provides assistance to thousands of individuals each year who stop by the Official Durham Visitor Information Center seeking directions, recommendations and helpful advice.  Many sign the guest book and jot down observations and comments.  Others provide feedback later, responding to surveys DCVB sends inquiring about the visit.

Two topics that receive the most negative feedback are appearance and wayfinding, such as these recent comments:

• A female from Pennsylvania says, "There are so many trees, sometimes signs are not clearly seen until you are upon them."
• A female from Indiana who was here for business and pleasure remarked, "I had an easy time getting from seminar to seminar.  Outside of that I had trouble finding things."
• "[Durham] definitely needs to invest in better signage.  [I] ended up turning around many, many times after no warning of exits and changes," according to a visitor from Tennessee.
• A male from Chapel Hill commented, "Main Street desperately needs repaving, and the lights are not timed so I always hit every red light."
• A female from Maryland noted, "The old town area is not so good in terms of appearance..."

According to a recent survey of residents, only slightly more than 20% agree that Durham has good signage and wayfinding.  More than half of Durham's residents disagree or strongly disagree with that statement.  Likewise, only 15% of Durham residents do NOT believe that appearance should be a high community priority.

Durham has made strides in both of these areas, but finding solutions to these issues are critical in encouraging repeat visitation.