The business improvement district (BID) is an international, yet controversial, model for urban revitalization. This article contributes to the BID debate by identifying the theories that underpin the model, developing a conceptual framework that examines the linkages between crime theories and BID services, and—through the use of spatial and statistical methods of analysis—measuring the impact of BID organizations on criminal activity in and around commercial areas. Results show that lower property crime rates differentiate commercial areas with BID organizations from those without BIDs and that the lower rates are not matched by higher crime in surrounding blocks.
Angel, S.1968. Discouraging crime through city planning. Working Paper no. 75, University of California, Center for Planning and Development Research, Berkeley.
2.
Birch, Eugenie L.2002. Having a longer view on downtown living. Journal of the American Planning Association68 (1): 5-21.
3.
Block, R.1979. Community, environment, and violent crime. Criminology17:46-57.
4.
Bollens, John. 1961. Special district governments in the United States. Berkeley: University of California Press.
5.
Brantingham, Paul J., and P. Brantingham. 1984. Patterns in crime. New York: Macmillan.
6.
Briffault, Richard. 1999. A government for our time? Business improvement districts and urban governance. Columbia Law Review2 (March): 365-477.
7.
Byrne, J.1986. Cities, citizens, and crime: The ecologica-nonecological debate reconsidered. In The social ecology of crime, ed. J. Byrne and R. J. Sampson.New York: Springer.
8.
Cohen, Lawrence E., and Marcus Felson. 1979. Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activities approach. American Sociological Review44:588-608.
9.
Deutsch, Joseph, and Gil Epstein. 1998. Changing a decision taken under uncertainty: The case of the criminal’s location choice. Urban Studies35 (8): 1335-1343.
10.
Dietrick, B. 1977. The environment and burglary victimization in a metropolitan suburb. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Atlanta, GA.
11.
Duda, Richard, and Peter Hart. 1972. Pattern classification and scene analysis. New York: Wiley.
12.
Duffala, D. C.1976. Convenience stores: Armed robbery and physical environment features. American Behavioral Scientist20:227-246.
13.
Durkheim, Emile. 1893/1947. The division of labor in society. Trans. George Simpson. New York: Free Press.
14.
Esbensen, Finn-Aage. 1987. Foot patrols: Of what value? American Journal of Police6 (1): 45-65.
15.
Fabricant, Richard. 1979. The distribution of criminal offenses in an urban environment: A spatial analysis of criminal spillovers and juvenile offenders. American Journal of Economics and Sociology38 (1): 31-47.
16.
Felson, Marcus, and L. E. Cohen. 1980. Human ecology and crime: A routine activity approach. Human Ecology8 (December): 398-405.
17.
Fisher, R. A.1936. The use of multiple measurements in taxonomic problems. Annals of Eugenics7:179-188.
18.
Garodnick, Daniel R.2000. What’s the BID deal? Can the grand central business improvement district serve a special limited purpose? University of Pennsylvania Law Review148:1733-1770.
19.
Gottfredson, D. C., R. J. McNeil, and G. D. Gottfredson. 1991. Social area influences on delinquency: A multilevel analysis. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency28:197-226.
20.
Greenberg, Stephanie, and William M. Rohe. 1984. Neighborhood design and crime. Journal of the American Planning Association50 (1): 48-61.
21.
Greene, Jack, and Ralph B. Taylor. 1988. Community-based policing and foot patrol: Issues of theory and evaluation. In Community policing: Rhetoric or reality? ed. Jack R. Greene and Stephen D. Mastrofski.New York: Praeger.
22.
Hakim, Simon, Arie Ovadia, Eli Sagi, and J. Weinblatt. 1979. Interjurisdictional spillover of crime and police expenditure. Land Economics5 (2): 200-212.
23.
Hochleutner, Brian R.2003. BIDs fare well: The democratic accountability of business improvement districts. New York University Law Review78 (April): 374-404.
24.
Houstoun, Lawrence O.2003. Business improvement districts. Washington, DC: Urban Land Institute.
25.
Hoyt, Lorlene. 2004. Collecting private funds for safer public spaces: An empirical examination of the business improvement district concept. Environment & Planning: Planning and Design31 (3): 367-380.
26.
Hoyt, Lorlene. Forthcoming. Importing ideas: The transnational transfer of urban revitalization policy. International Journal of Public Administration.
27.
Jacobs, Jane. 1961. The death and life of great American cities. New York: Vintage Books.
28.
Kelling, George L.1985. Order maintenance, the quality of urban life, and police: A line of argument. In Police Leadership in America, ed. William A. Geller.New York: Praeger.
29.
Levy, Paul R.2001. Paying for the public life. Economic Development Quarterly15:124-131.
30.
Ley, David, and Roman Cybriwsky. 1974. The spatial ecology of stripped cars. Environment and Behavior6:53-68.
31.
Lloyd, M. G., John McCarthy, Stanley McGreal, and Jim Berry. 2003. Business improvement districts, planning and urban regeneration. International Planning Studies8 (November): 295-321.
32.
Loukaitou-Sideris, Anastasia. 2000. Revisiting inner-city strips: A framework for community and economic development. Economic Development Quarterly14:165-181.
33.
Loukaitou-Sideris, Anastasia, Evelyn Blumenberg, and Renia Ehrenfeucht. 2004. Sidewalk democracy: Municipalities and the regulation of public space. In Regulating place, ed. Eran Ben-Joseph and Terry Szold.New York: Routledge.
34.
Loukaitou-Sideris, Anastasia, Robin Liggett, and Hiroyuki Iseki. 2001. Measuring the effects of built environment on bus stop crime. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design28:255-280.
35.
Luedtke, Gerald, and Associates. 1970. Crime and the physical city: Neighborhood design techniques for crime prevention. Springfield, VA: National Technical Information Service.
Mastrofski, Stephen. 1988. Community policing as reform: A cautionary tale. In Community policing: Rhetoric or reality? ed. Jack R. Greene and Stephen D. Mastrofski.New York: Praeger.
38.
Mitchell, Jerry. 1999. Business improvement districts and innovative service delivery. New York: The Price Waterhouse Coopers Endowment for the Business of Government.
39.
Mitchell, Jerry. 2001. Business improvement districts and the “new” revitalization of downtown. Economic Development Quarterly15:115-123.
40.
Newman, Oscar. 1972. Defensible space: Crime prevention through urban design. New York: Macmillan.
41.
Ona, Godwin. 1999. The impact of the police foot patrol on reducing crime in the Oakland business district. Ph.D. diss. Golden Gate University, San Francisco. Dissertation Abstracts International 60 (8A): 1-147.
42.
Pablant P., J. Baxter. 1975. Environment correlates of school vandalism. Journal of the American Institute of Planners41:270-276.
43.
Pack, Janet Rothenberg. 1992. BIDs, DIDs, SIDs, and SADs: Private governments in urban America. Brooking Review10 (4): 18-21.
44.
Park, Robert E.1916. The city: Suggestions for the investigation of human behaviour in an urban environment. American Journal of Sociology20:608.
45.
Perkins, D. D., A. Wandersman, R. Rich, and R. Taylor. 1993. The physical environment of street crime: Defensible space, territoriality and incivilities. Journal of Environmental Psychology13:29-49.
46.
Philadelphia City Planning Commission (PCPC). 1996. Philadelphia shops update. Philadelphia: PCPC.
47.
Roncek, Dennis W.1981. Dangerous places: Crime and residential environment. Social Forces60:74-96.
48.
Roncek, Dennis, and Pamela Maier. 1991. Bars, blocks, and crimes revisited: Linking theory of routine activities to the empiricism of “hot spots.”Criminology29 (4): 725-753.
49.
Roncek, Dennis, and Mitchell Pravatiner. 1989. Additional evidence that taverns enhance nearby crime. Sociology and Social Research73 (4): 185-188.
50.
Rosenbaum, Dennis P.1988. Community crime prevention: A review and synthesis of the literature. Justice Quarterly5:323-395.
51.
Sampson, Robert. 1983. Structural density and criminal victimization. Criminology21:276-293.
52.
Sampson, Robert. 1986. Crime in cities: The effects of formal and informal social control. In Communities and crime, ed. Albert Reis and Michael Tonry, 271-311. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
53.
Sampson, Robert. 1987. Urban black violence: The effect of male joblessness and family disruption. American Journal of Sociology93:348-382.
54.
Sampson, Robert, and W. Byron Groves. 1989. Community structure and crime: Testing social-disorganization theory. American Journal of Sociology94:774-802.
55.
Shaw, Clifford R., and Henry D. McKay. 1942. Juvenile delinquency in urban areas. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
56.
Skogan, Wesley G.1999. On the beat: Police and community problem solving. Boulder, CO: Westview.
57.
Swartz, Charles. 2000. The spatial analysis of crime: What social scientists have learned. In Analyzing crime patterns: Frontiers of practice, ed. Victor Goldsmith, Philip G. McGuire, John H. Mollenkopf, and Timothy A. Ross.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
58.
Symes, Martin, and Mark Steel. 2003. Lessons from America: The role of business improvement districts as an agent of urban regeneration. Town Planning Review74 (3): 301-313.
59.
Taylor, R., S. Gotteredson, and S. Brower. 1984. Block crime and fear: Defensible space, local social ties, and territorial functioning. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency21 (4): 303-331.
60.
Thomas, Colin J., and Rosemary D. F. Bromley. 2000. City-centre revitalization: Problems of fragmentation and fear in the evening. Urban Studies37 (8): 1403-1429.
61.
Tonnies, Ferdinand. 1877/1957. Community and society. Translated and edited by Charles P. Loomis.East Lansing: Michigan State University Press.
62.
Originally published as Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft. Trojanowicz, Robert C.1982. An evaluation of a neighborhood foot patrol program in Flint, Michigan. East Lansing: Michigan State University.
63.
Weinblatt, J., Uriel Spiegel, Simon Hakim, and Uri Benzion. 1983. Crime prevention policies and externalities: A theoretical analysis. Public Finance38 (1): 111-131.
64.
White, R. C.1932. The relation of felonies to environmental factors in Indianapolis. Social Forces10:498-509.
65.
Wilson, James Q., and George L. Kelling. 1982. Police and neighborhood safety: Broken windows. Atlantic Monthly, March, pp. 29-38.
66.
Wirth, Louis. 1938. Urbanism as a way of life. American Journal of Sociology44 (1): 1-24.
