Knowledge Center
Policy and Advocacy
The urban place manager advocates for resources and policy in support of the successful management of equitable and inclusive urban places. Ensuring the success of a managed place requires identifying and implementing the appropriate policies representing the values, mission, and objectives of a place’s strategic plan. While seeking to maximize a user’s experience within a place, the urban place manager acts as a convener and facilitator for various stakeholders including, the private sector, local and regional government, community organizations, and everyone who interacts with the place. The place manager is tasked with the ability to win the trust and confidence of a diverse group of stakeholders, understand the issues confronting the urban district from a multitude of perspectives, and manage complex partnerships to focus on the district’s issues, projects and initiatives.
Downtown Design Standards Management
In 2001, Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. (DFWI) championed the creation of the Downtown Urban Guidelines. In 2016-2017, these guidelines were updated and strengthened by DFWI and City of Fort Worth and codified as the Downtown Urban Design Standards and Guidelines. DFWI led the effort with City staff and members by drafting the guidelines, facilitating discussion and ushering the program through City Council approval.
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Downtown Santa Monica Annual Meeting Video
After many years of hosting annual meetings, Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. (DTSM) noticed that messaging about the day-to-day management of the district was getting lost between presentations about transit and development, shiny new programs, grant funding or controversial regional and national topics. DTSM asked themselves, How do we share our passions with the world in a way that doesnt put them to sleep?
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
First Wednesday Art Walk
For the past 13 years, Downtown Vision Inc. (DVI) has produced the First Wednesday Art Walk in the heart of Downtown Jacksonville. This innovative event acts as an economic development tool supporting downtown merchants and cultural entities while improving the vitality of downtown through the arts. With more than 10,000 people participating each month, Art Walk has grown into a treasured street festival, one that is constantly reimagined to mirror the diversity of Jacksonville.
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
Dundas Roncesvalles Peace Garden, Toronto
The site of the Dundas Roncesvalles Peace Garden (DRPG) was previously a concrete promontory jutting into the wide, busy intersection of Dundas Street and Roncesvalles Avenue. The site was broadly disliked by pedestrians who often dashed, unsafely across the road to get away from blazing heat in the summer or windswept barrens in winter. The Roncesvalles Village Business Improvement Area (RVBIA) was able to fund the DRPG project through strategic partnerships.
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Retail Strategic Plan
The City of Cambridge is experiencing rapid changes in consumer purchasing habits; in particular the growth in on-line shopping that impacts traditional downtown districts. The city realized that they needed to better understand these macro trends, and needed guidance to enable city staff and leaders, as well and the business community to develop best practice policy prescriptions that could be effectively implemented by the City and embraced by the community.
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Downtown Rebirth Report
Downtowns, once shunned as empty, unsafe places at night, are now being redeveloped at higher density and are thriving after dark. Patrons of downtown regional destinations mingle with office workers and resident young professionals, empty-nesters, and, in many cities, an expanding number of families with children. The trends of diversification, densification, and adjacent residential revival are also occurring on and around urban colleges, universities, medical centers, and research parks.
Read MoreStart Downtown
A groundswell of entrepreneurial and creative activity is changing Dayton. Over a series of townhall-style meetings and detailed work sessions, the Start Downtown initiative brought together more than 100 enterprising Daytonians to devise new strategies and grassroots projects to foster collaboration and connections between entrepreneurs and provide better support the creative culture rapidly emerging. Start Downtown won an IDA Excellence award at the 2018 IDA Conference.
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
2011 U.S. BID Census Report
The study, conducted by the Institute of Business District Management, the Rutgers University’s School of Public Affairs and Administration and funded by several member organizations of the International Downtown Association, presents a snapshot of the characteristics of BIDs in 2010 and captures such information as: the geography of BIDs; revenue sources & budget size; governance & board composition; tools for measuring performance.
Read More2016 Quantifying the Value of Canadian Downtowns: A Research Toolkit
This toolkit is a groundbreaking effort to provide a downtown data standard, a common set of data and processes that will help Canadian place management organizations, such as BIAs/BIDs, establish and sustain evaluation and compare progress among downtowns. While this toolkit is geared towards Canadian downtowns, it also is of value for urban districts outside of Canada who are looking to move toward data standardization and data best practices. In the toolkit, organizations will find
Read MoreTop Issues Council: Homelessness in Urban Districts
This publication reflects the experiences and analysis of many urban centers throughout North America and is compiled by a council of place management practitioners experienced with effective homeless solutions. While similarities and differences abound, there are only a handful of truly universal issues which permeate the core of each downtowns across the globe. Homelessness is a challenge which does not discriminate by region, culture, or creed. It is a human challenge with complexities which
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