San Pedro proved it can draw a regional audience to the waterfront. The next question is how much of that activity reaches the rest of the community.

Four sold-out days.

3,794 ticket purchasers from 631 ZIP codes.

West Harbor reported that 23% of attendees came from San Pedro.

Those numbers from the Los Angeles World Cup 26 Fan Zone at West Harbor tell us something important.

People will come here.

At the San Pedro Chamber's August board meeting, one of our directors asked the question I've been thinking about since the event:

Did all of those people coming to West Harbor translate into more business Downtown?

We didn't have a good answer.

I actually think that's useful.

It isn't a criticism of West Harbor. West Harbor did its job. It made a major investment, sold out the event and brought people to San Pedro who otherwise might not have been here.

The next part belongs to the rest of us.

I've been writing and talking about this as the Waterfront Dividend: the share of waterfront activity that becomes lasting value for the larger community.

That might mean someone coming to West Harbor and staying Downtown for dinner. A visitor to Battleship IOWA discovering another San Pedro attraction. A cruise passenger spending another night here instead of leaving immediately. More business for a local restaurant, retailer or hotel because thousands of people had another reason to come to San Pedro.

The Fan Zone gave us a chance to test that idea.

We know a lot about who came.

What we don't know well enough is what happened after they arrived.

Did pedestrian traffic increase on Sixth, Seventh or Pacific?

Did people ride the trolley?

Did other attractions see more visitors?

Did local businesses notice a meaningful change?

How many people were visiting San Pedro for the first time?

What would have convinced them to stay another two hours?

What would bring them back?

We don't need every restaurant or retailer to publish private sales figures to answer those questions.

We can learn from pedestrian counts, trolley boardings, visitor surveys, hotel activity, attendance at cultural institutions, local offers and anonymous business reporting.

The goal isn't another study.

It's better decisions.

If thousands of people come to a waterfront event and very few make it Downtown, we should understand why.

Maybe they don't know what's there.

Maybe the route isn't obvious.

Maybe transportation and event schedules don't line up.

Maybe businesses need more notice about the dates when demand is likely to be highest.

Or maybe the connection is working better than we realize and we simply haven't measured it.

Any of those answers would help us improve the next event.

That's what I mean when I say the connection between the waterfront and the rest of San Pedro has to be designed, operated and measured.

We aren't starting from zero.

The BID already runs trolley service. The Chamber has visitor resources. Downtown has restaurants, shops and cultural institutions. The waterfront now has a growing collection of attractions and experiences. The Chamber is relaunching its Tourism Committee, and there's new work underway around visitor connectivity as West Harbor continues opening.

We also have larger opportunities coming quickly.

Cruise activity continues to grow. LA28 sailing will happen here. More waterfront events will follow.

We shouldn't wait until those visitors arrive to decide how San Pedro benefits from having them here.

That was the most encouraging part of our board discussion.

The question moved from whether we should measure the Waterfront Dividend to how we might actually start doing it.

That's progress.

Use major waterfront events as learning opportunities. Establish a baseline. Measure a few things consistently. See what changes. Then use the evidence to improve the visitor experience.

The Fan Zone doesn't have to prove that every Downtown business benefited.

It already proved something valuable.

San Pedro can bring a regional audience to its waterfront.

Now we need to get better at understanding where that opportunity goes after they arrive.

That's the next part of the Waterfront Dividend.

Anthony A. Luna is a San Pedro native, local business owner and Chair of the Board of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce. This article reflects his personal views. References to Chamber initiatives are limited to work discussed or formally undertaken by the Chamber.