Element, a 34-story, 395-unit project scheduled to be completed this year, will include 15,000 square feet of retail space.

DOWNTOWN - None of the findings in the inaugural "Who Is a Downtowner?" survey presented by the Tampa Downtown Partnership surprised Anddrikk Frazier.

He has worked downtown for Tampa Electric Co. for 10 years. So Frazier is bone-tired of his commute from Brandon and, yes, he would like to live downtown someday.

"But that's a big someday," Frazier said after last week's breakfast gathering of about 100 people at the St. Pete Times Forum.

He has children and a dog and that, in his mind, requires a yard.

The partnership's survey of downtown workers and residents, conducted by HCP & Associates, found that 12.5 percent of workers are "very interested" in living downtown.

The key reason is the urban living experience. But getting to work quicker and cheaper are also factors.

"Obviously a shorter commute would be ideal," Frazier said.

Car pools don't seem to be making a dent. The survey found that 84 percent of downtown workers drive alone into the city on weekdays.

Does anybody walk?

"I drove across downtown to attend here today," Patrick Hill, who conducted the $35,000 survey, told the audience.

The survey drew responses from 1,074 of downtown's estimated 50,800 workers and from 212 of its 4,900 residents.

Christine Burdick, the partnership's executive director, was disappointed in the response.

"But the numbers were enough to make the survey statistically valid," she said. "We need to engage more with the communities."

Overall, downtown residents like what they see, expressing satisfaction with most quality-of-life issues. They just want more restaurants, retail and other places to hang out and spend money.

That's because they shop - a lot. They go to International Plaza and WestShore Plaza, and 95 percent said they had visited Channelside Bay Plaza recently.

Among respondents, 47 percent said retail offerings in the urban core are below their expectations. "If only we could bring Maas Bros. back," Hill mused.

Hill said the survey is a beginning that will allow comparisons to be made down the road; another survey is expected in two years.

"It's a market snapshot," he said.

Among the findings: 37 percent of downtowners are ages 25 to 34; 40 percent are 40 or older; and 62 percent have lived in the Tampa Bay area for at least six years.

Downtowners like to be seen and heard. They bulk up attendance figures at venues such as the Forum and the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Hill said.

That fits what Melinda Chavez has been saying. As executive director of the Tampa Bay Business Committee for the Arts, she attended the breakfast meeting and wondered whether people know what's ahead.

"I would especially like to reach people who are negative about downtown's future," she said. "Because from our outlook, by 2010, we will have 20 cultural outlets in this city."

A new Tampa Museum of Art and Children's Museum are in the works, and the new Tampa Bay History Center is under construction.

"We are growing wonderfully," Chavez said.

As for other endeavors, downtown residents and workers use health clubs and dining places and request a grocery store.

Who are downtown workers? Professionals make up 46 percent of them, followed by government workers at 20 percent.

As for transportation issues, HART chief executive David Armijo said he's working on a more direct bus line from downtown to Tampa International Airport and plans to propose lowering the in-town trolley fare to 25 cents from 50 cents.

"Fuel costs are right up there as a concern, but people also value their time," Armijo said. "So we have to look at modifying what we offer."

As for those respondents "very interested" in moving downtown, Hill said, "There are a powerful group of people waiting."

None of the respondents said the decision to live the urban lifestyle was a mistake.

Hill said the survey shows people aren't down on downtown.

"It could be a classic destination," he said.