What’s a Business Improvement District?

Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) are proven players in urban environments — over 1,200 exist throughout the United States today. Organized as nonprofits, BIDs are enacted in partnership with local governments to serve specific areas. They are formed when property owners pitch in and pool resources to fund new programs and services that cash-strapped cities are often unable to provide.

Additive services could include marketing, events, activation, hospitality, maintenance & beautification, and advocacy. BIDs are dedicated to promoting business development, activating public space, and improving an area’s quality of life. Most importantly, no two BIDs are alike. They are uniquely designed to serve their communities.

Here in downtown Rochester, the effort to establish a BID was born out of the ROC The Riverway Initiative. In 2018, the City’s ROC the Riverway Phase 1 Vision Plan strongly recommended a management entity for downtown and soon to be created riverfront spaces. At that time, NYS and the City of Rochester, in partnership with the ROC the Riverway management entity working group, conducted a study evaluating organizational structures. That study recommended a business improvement district as the organizational model best equipped to fulfill this vision plan.