From BIDs to RIDs: Creating Residential Improvement Districts

Abstract

Compared to other urban redevelopment approaches, Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) - special geographically defined zones that are authorized to collect taxes from their members and then manage those revenues to serve a variety of purposes - have had relative uncontreversial success. Since the establishment of the first BID in Toronto in 1969, BIDs have become popular around the world, with more than 1,500 such districts in North America alone. Given that the needs of the inner-city poor are certainly as great as - if not greater than - those of urban businessmen, states and municipalities should act promptly to enact the necessary authorizing legislation that would allow Residential Improvement Districts (RIDs), organizations similar to BIDs but focused on the renewal neighborhoods, to exist and thrive.

Keywords: Urban economics, urban redevelopment, business improvement districts, residential improvement districts, BIDs, RIDs