BANGOR – Noise was the No. 1 issue that downtown residents, merchants and others gathered Friday would like to see addressed as part of the city’s effort to improve its nighttime atmosphere.

The purpose of Friday’s meeting, held by Bangor Center Corp., was to identify and rank issues of importance to local people and to document their descriptions of an appropriate atmosphere for downtown, said Sally Bates, a business and economic development officer for the city.

Others things local people said they want to see:

. Better lighting, more in the way of nighttime activities for teenagers and young adults.

. After-hours public transportation.

. A crackdown on boisterous bar patrons, cruising, and Main Street drag racing.

Though downtown Bangor is relatively safe, according to the city’s low violent-crime ranking, there’s room for improvement.

“It’s your neighborhood, in many cases,” Bates told the group of roughly 30 who took part in the discussion.

Steve Wong, who lives near the corner of Main and Cedar streets, was among the participants. He said he enjoys sitting on the roof in the summertime and watching the sun set and cars go by. From his rooftop vantage point, Wong said, he has seen people hanging out in Davenport Park, across the street from his home, past the 10 p.m. closing time for city parks. He has also seen people drag racing and running red lights and has listened to the boom-boom-boom of car radios played at high volumes.

“It’s rattling stuff in the back of the house – literally,” he said of the music coming from cars.

Mary Schultheis, who lives downtown, said she often walks her dog at night.

“I feel perfectly safe,” she said. She said she often sees the Police Department’s bicycle officers patrolling the area at night, which adds to her sense of security.

Others, including residents of the Franklin Place condominium complex, complained about bar patrons who use vulgar language, urinate outdoors and litter, among other things.

The noise problem, some noted, has worsened since anti-smoking laws took effect, forcing bar patrons who smoke to do so outside.

During the meeting, Police Chief Don Winslow said that 1,000 to 1,200 people live downtown.

“As the number of residents grew, so did the number of calls to the Police Department,” he said.

Friday’s discussion was the first in a series planned on the topic “downtown after dark.”

“We’ll have as many meetings as we need,” said Parke Clemons, board president for Bangor Center Corp., an organization dedicated to the development of downtown. It is funded by a special tax assessment collected from downtown property owners. The organization has a standing liaison committee that deals with such matters as safety and security.

The dialogue is taking place at the request of the City Council’s government operations committee, which last month asked Bangor Center to help people with a stake in the issue define what they believe downtown’s nighttime atmosphere should be.

The request followed a complaint from a representative of Milford’s Dynamic Performance Car Club about the city’s cruising ordinance, aimed at curbing young motorists who drive aimlessly around the streets.

According to Winslow, who has spoken with club members, the reason they come to Bangor to cruise is because “there are people here and they want to show off their cars.”

During Friday’s session, Winslow said that the ordinance, which prohibits driving past the same point more than three times in a two-hour period, has become a valuable enforcement tool, though it generates only a handful of tickets each year.

Though car club members would like to see the ordinance relaxed, Bates said, the meeting’s roughly 30 participants wanted it to remain in effect, noting that it was a good enforcement tool for local police.

Bates said the next meeting is set for 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 6. She said residents could keep themselves up to date on the effort to improve downtown’s nighttime atmosphere by visiting Bangor Center’s Web site at www.downtownbangor.com, where agendas and minutes will be posted.