<p>Any ideas what the average user's download speed is? I'm working on a site that streams video and am trying to figure out what an average download speed as to determine quality.</p>

<p>I know i might be comparing apples with oranges but I'm just looking for something to get a basis for where to start.</p>

You could try looking at the lower tier offerings from AT&T and Comcast.  Probably 1.5 Mbps for the basic level (which I imagine most people get).
The "test your bandwidth" sites may have some stats on this, too.