Business improvement districts (BIDs) are a popular economic development tool as evidenced by their proliferation from North America to Africa to Europe. In an effort to provide investors, visitors, and residents with more secure public spaces, the majority of BID organizations pay for supplemental security and sanitation services. Following a brief discussion of the theoretical underpinnings of the BID concept, this study describes BID security and sanitation programs and evaluates their impact on patterns of criminal activity in the City of Philadelphia using a customized goegraphic information system. Further, it introduces a point-based method of analysis that simultaneously considers the spatial and temporal characteristics of individual crime incidents. Results from this quantitative–qualitative study suggest that BID security services have a deterrent effect on such criminal activities as theft and burglary. Additionally, this paper makes the case that, as BID organizations continue to emerge, it is imperative that we develop more sophisticated models for evaluating their potential impacts. Controversies, like whether BIDs cause wealth-based inequalities in the delivery of public services, remain viable avenues for future research.
References
1.
BrantinghanP JBrantinghanP, 1984Patterns in Crime (Macmillan, New York)
2.
BriffaultR, 1999, “A government for our time? Business improvement districts and urban governance”Columbia Law Review March, 365–477
3.
CanterP, 2000, “Using a geographic information system for tactical crime analysis”, in Analyzing Crime Patterns: Frontiers of Practice Ed. GoldsmithV (Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA) pp 3–10
4.
ChakravortySPelfreyW V, 2000, “Exploratory data analysis of crime patterns: Preliminary findings from the Bronx”, in Analyzing Crime Patterns: Frontiers of Practice Ed. GoldsmithV (Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA) pp 65–76
5.
CohenL EFelsonM, 1979, “Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activities approach”American Sociological Review44588–608
6.
DownsA, 1997, “The challenge of our declining big cities”Housing Policy Debate8359–408
7.
EckJ EGershJ STaylorC, 2000, “Finding crime hot spots through repeat address mapping”, in Analyzing Crime Patterns: Frontiers of Practice Ed. GoldsmithV (Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA) pp 49–63
8.
GoldsteinH, 1990Problem-oriented Policing (Temple University Press, Philadelphia, PA)
9.
GreeneJ RTaylorR B, 1988, “Community-based policing and foot patrol: Issues of theory and evaluation”, in Community Policing: Rhetoric or Reality? Eds GreeneJ RMastrofskiS D (Praeger, New York) pp 195–224
10.
HarriesK, 1999Mapping Crime: Principles and PracticeUS Department of Justice, Washington, DC
11.
HoustounL O, 1994, “Betting on BIDs”Urban Land June, 3–18
12.
HoustounL O, 1997Business Improvement Districts (Urban Land Institute, Washington, DC)
13.
HoytL, 2001Business Improvement Districts: Untold Stories and Substantiated Impacts PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania; abstract in Dissertation Abstracts International623961–4221
14.
JacksonK, 1985Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States (Oxford University Press, New York)
15.
JacobsJ, 1961The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Vintage Books, New York)
16.
KellingG LMooreM H, 2000, “The evolving strategy of policing”, in Community Policing: Classical Readings Ed. OliverW M (Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ) pp 96–117
17.
KellingG LWilsonJ QColesC, 1996Fixing Broken Windows; Restoring Order and Reducing Crime in Our Communities (Martin Kessler Books, New York)
18.
KnoxE G, 1964, “Epidemiology of childhood leukemia in Northumberland and Durham”British Journal of Preventative and Social Medicine1817–24
19.
LangworthyR HJefferisE S, 2000, “The utility of standard deviation ellipses for evaluating hot spots”, in Analyzing Crime Patterns: Frontiers of Practice Ed. GoldsmithV (Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA) pp 87–104
20.
LevyP R, 2001, “Paying for the public life”Economic Development Quarterly15124–131
21.
McElroyJ, 1993Community Policing: The CPOP in New York (Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA)
22.
McGuireP, 2000, “The New York Police Department”, in Analyzing Crime Patterns: Frontiers of Practice Ed. GoldsmithV (Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA) pp 11–22
23.
McLaffertySWilliamsonDMcGuireP, 2000, “Identifying crime hot spots using kernel smoothing”, in Analyzing Crime Patterns: Frontiers of Practice Ed. GoldsmithV (Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA) pp 77–85
24.
MantelN, 1967, “The detection of disease clustering and a generalised regression approach”Cancer Research27209–220
25.
MitchellJ, 1999Business Improvement Districts and Innovative Service DeliveryThe Pricewaterhouse Coopers Endowment for the Business of Government, New York
26.
MitchellJ, 2001, “Business improvement districts and the ‘new’ revitalization of downtown”Economic Development Quarterly15115–123
27.
MohlR A, 1993, “Shifting patterns of American urban policy since 1900”, in Urban Policy in Twentieth Century America Eds HirschA RMohlR A (Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ) pp 1–45
28.
NewmanO, 1972Defensible Space: Crime Prevention Through Urban Design (Macmillan, New York)
29.
Office of the City Controller, 1999Philadelphia: A New Urban Direction City of Philadelphia (Saint Joseph's University Press, Philadelphia, PA)
30.
ParkR E, 1916, “The city: Suggestions for the investigation of human behaviour in an urban environment”American Journal of Sociology20608
31.
PCPC, 1996Philadelphia Shops UpdatePhiladelphia City Planning Commission, One Parkway, 13th Floor, 1515 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102
32.
Philadelphia Police Study Task Force, 1987Philadelphia and Its Police: Toward New Partnership (St Joseph's University Press, Philadelphia, PA)
33.
PorterM E, 1995, “The competitive edge of the inner city”Harvard Business School Review May-June, 55–71
34.
RiechersL MRobergR, 2000, “Community policing: A critical review of underlying assumptions”, in Community Policing: Classical Readings Ed. OliverW M (Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ) pp 339–354
35.
ShermanL WGartinPBuergerM, 1989, “Hot spots of predatory crime: Routine activities and the criminology of place”Criminology2727–55
36.
SkoganW G, 1999On the Beat: Police and Community Problem Solving (Westview Press, Boulder, CO)
37.
TrojanowiczRBucquerouxB, 1990Community Policing: A Contemporary Perspective (Anderson, Cincinnati, OH)
38.
WeiselD LEckJ, 1994, “Toward a practical approach to organizational change: Community policing initiatives in six cities”, in The Challenge of Community Policing: Testing the Promises Ed. RosenbaumD P (Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA) pp 53–74
39.
WilliamsonDRossTAMcLaffertySGoldsmithV, 2000, “Evaluating statistical software for analyzing crime patterns and trends”, in Analyzing Crime Patterns: Frontiers of Practice Ed. GoldsmithV (Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA) pp 169–177
