U Street BID? How about a PID?

Businesses in the U Street area have proposed creating a new Business Improvement District (BID). A BID is a special type of nonprofit that has special power to charge all businesses in its area, and spends the money in ways that benefit the neighborhood, such as trash pickup, streetscape improvements, and better signage. (For example, the 34th Street BID in Manhattan has big signs up all along the 34th Street area directing tourists to local restaurants and shops in addition to just the Empire State Building).

The proposed U Street BID would cover 7th to 17th Streets, from S up to Clifton, and charge businesses 8 cents per $100 of assessed property value. Some small businesses are concerned that the BID will mostly benefit larger or richer businesses, or pay for services that they feel the city ought to provide anyway. There’s a community meeting (open to everyone) Tuesday at 6 pm in the Reeves Center (14th and U), Cromwell Community Room.

If businesses are concerned about cost, they should consider advocating for a Parking Improvement District (PID), also often called a Transportation Enhancement District (TED), either instead of or in combination with a BID. U Street is a successful area that draws people from both surrounding neighborhoods and more distant towns, but many blocks could use sprucing up with street trees, repaved sidewalks, some improved storefronts, and more. There’s not enough private parking, but there is a Metro station right there as well as numerous bus lines, meaning almost everyone has a possible alternative to driving.

That’s a lot like Old Town Pasadena before Donald Shoup came in. Following his advice, Pasadena stopped heavily subsidizing their parking garages and raised the price just high enough to ensure that there were a few spaces available at any time. Drivers were more willing to go because they knew they could park, while others chose to ride transit instead. And most importantly, the money went directly toward streetscape improvements that made Pasadena a much more pleasant place to shop. Here’s a proposal for such a district in Hyde Park, Chicago.

A similar program would be perfect for U Street. Instead of having people circle endlessly for the scarce street spaces, charge nonresidents to park 24 hours a day, and put that money toward better sidewalks or new wayfinding signs. The U Street BID should have a hand in prioritizing the projects paid for with the parking revenue, and could do more while charging merchants less. Meanwhile, anyone could park without circling and circling.

U Street has been enormously successful, and is a great example of revitalizing an area which, ten years ago, was largely empty lots with drugs and prostitution. A PID/TED would help it continue that growth while making sure U Street isn’t completely gridlocked with traffic, so that drivers can still come to eat and shop while others ride Metro and buses.