Business Improvement District

Business improvement districts and other assessment districts are evolving as more residents move downtown. Among other things, place making is more important. Long time district consultant Marco Li Mandri explains the trends and strategies.

November 13, 2016 - UrbDeZine

An in-depth study of business improvement districts (BIDs) in two Los Angeles neighborhoods examines the factors behind their success or failure.

October 23, 2015 - Next City

Scott Beyer details the old real estate wisdom of "retail follows rooftops," especially as evidenced by cities like Cleveland in recent years.

February 1, 2015 - Governing

The Arts District Business Improvement District in downtown Los Angeles was recently ordered to dissolve by a Superior Court judge for providing dubious economic development services. Other area BIDs fear the ruling could threaten their operations.

May 17, 2013 - Los Angeles Downtown News

Should a business improvement district have an expiration date? That's the question some property owners in downtown Los Angeles are beginning to ask as they chafe at the "aggressive cleaning up" and additional tax assessments that fund them.

December 17, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

Is it justified to believe that a proposed SoHo business improvement district, widely embraced elsewhere in the city, would only attract more hordes of visitors and non-residents? Proponents say that residents are fear-mongering.

January 30, 2012 - The New York Times

The famous district in Manhattan may finally get the special status needed to provide more services to its residents and businesses.

February 4, 2011 - The Wall Street Journal

A proposed clean tech corridor along the L.A. River east of downtown is another twist in the ongoing battle between competing interests for residential development and the preservation of industrial space.

October 7, 2010 - The Planning Report

Since its founding in the mid 1990s, Alliance for Downtown New York has long been one of the world's leading business improvement districts. This non-profit organization has presided over the reinvention of New York's historic Financial District as a thriving 24-hour live/work district, while retaining a respectable share of the city's financial services sector. The Alliance built a network of Wi-Fi hotspots that lit up nearly every major public space in the district - not just outdoor locations like Bowling Green and City Hall Park, but also indoor atria like the Winter Garden and 60 Wall Street.

September 30, 2009 - Anthony Townsend

A new study of Los Angeles Business Improvement Districts shows that private security provided by BIDs has reduced crime in these areas more than in the rest of the city.

February 23, 2009 - Los Angeles Times

Tacoma, Washington has created a local improvement district in the Broadway-St. Helens neighborhood to create an 'urban village' and improve old infrastructure, but existing small businesses are afraid of being priced out.

September 20, 2008 - The News Tribune

Cafe seating overlooking New York's Broadway traffic is popular in spite of safety concerns.

August 27, 2008 - The New York Times