PBID model is unique because it unites
competing property owners to help en-
hance a business cluster. These special
districts, primarily based off of city zoning,
go by many names (business improvement
districts, community benefit districts,
etc.), but they function more or less the
same: pooling private resources to gener-
ate more revenue.
“We started off with a vision that has
worked,” says Michael Ault, executive di-
rector of the Downtown Sacramento Part-
nership, California’s first PBID, established
in 1995. “This is what we had hoped for in
the way of an economic voice.”
In the past two decades, revitalization
efforts downtown — from homeless out-
Our Street Night Market launched in June
on R Street in Midtown Sacramento.
reach and Concerts in the Park to Down-
town Sacramento Partnership’s small busi-
ness contest, Calling All Dreamers — have
sparked a regional PBID craze, with new
districts launching everywhere from Florin
Road in south Sacramento to Midtown and
Roseville and beyond. Not just a tool for
property owners, this collaborative trend
has also triggered the formation of financ-
ing districts in niche industries, such as
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food, wine and tourism, each of which has
been helping redefine the region’s image.
“We’ve taken a much more collabo-
rative approach to define what this city is
and what we represent to the rest of the
country,” says Mike Testa, head of the Vis-
it Sacramento tourism agency. “We’re not
just a government town, not a boring state
capital. We’re crafting an authentic identi-
ty that’s making noise across the country.”
Visit Sacramento (previously the Sac-
ramento Convention and Visitors Bureau)
owes more than 50 percent of its budget-
ed marketing muscle to a tourism improve-
ment district set up by hotel operators in
2001, Testa says. Without those extra dol-
lars, he adds, the agency couldn’t afford to
send staff to 30-plus annual trade shows,
grow the organization’s abilities to host
events like the Farm-to-Fork Festival and
the Tower Bridge Dinner, and effectively
lure leisure travelers to the city tradition-
ally seen as a cowtown.
While Visit Sacramento focuses on
outreach, various PBIDs help get things
done in-house. Depending on the location,
each district has its own unique vibe. Take,
for example, the R Street Partnership and
Greater Broadway District with its art-
ist lofts, block parties and the new Our
Street Night Market, which launched in
June showcasing Sacramento’s local food
scene.
“It’s very artsy, edgy, organic,” says
Michelle Smira, the Greater Broadway
District’s executive director. “If it is un-
sightly or people don’t feel comfortable,
they won’t keep coming back, especially at
night when we do most of our events.”
About two miles north, The River Dis-
trict PBID, established in 1999, once incor-
porated a section of warehouses to sup-
port commerce in the old rail yards. Now,
the area is transforming into a mixed-use
urban community with an eclectic mix
of residential and commercial land uses,
topped off with a cool historic district and
riverfront views, says The River District
Executive Director Patty Kleinknecht.
But PBIDs can’t pop up out of the blue.
They first need enough support from prop-
erty owners, who may not feel like forking
ECONOMIC GROWTH