ABSTRACT
The “livable city” moniker has come to encapsulate a vision of city life that will attract a class of potential urbanites seen as key to maintaining and bolstering the tax bases of fiscally strapped city governments (Florida, 2002; Kearns & Philo, 1993). Harnessing the competitive advantage-street-level neighborhood life, cultural and ethnic diversity, and a broad choice of entertainment venues and businesses-requires cleaning up commercial spaces and marketing images free of deterioration (Florida, 2002; Holcomb, 1993; Kearns & Philo, 1993). Since the 1970s, business improvement districts (BIDs) have become a preferred tool to refashion central-city urban districts to appeal to consumers, new businesses, and higher-income residents.
