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Democrat & Chronicle, Aug. 29, 2022

There's a bold plan to improve Rochester's downtown. What you need to know

Amorette Miller

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Around the country there are entities charged with the sole purpose of revitalizing and repurposing their downtown, places that have traditionally thrived. They are usually called Business Improvement Districts or BIDs, and Rochester is exploring one.

Healthy downtowns are the "Emerald City" of communities. When making the decision to move a corporation's headquarters or relocate for residency, people often look to downtown as a mirror of that region's economy.

For advocates, BIDs are nonprofits that wake up every morning with nothing else on their mind but to answer the question: How can they make the community within their boundary better for businesses, visitors and the people living in it? Critics contend that BIDs consolidate power in the hands of a small group and lack transparency and accountability.

Rochester is transforming

The ROC the Riverway partnership has helped outline the reanimation of downtown Rochester.

While remote work shortened the lifespan of the old-school, 9-5 office model, the allure of inner-city living attracts residents to Sibley Square, Innovation Square and new housing complexes along the filled-in Inner Loop on South Union Street.

Parcel 5, the site of downtown's former Midtown Mall is now a soft, grassy lot where events and food truck rodeos are hosted. All of these improvements have happened without a Business Improvement District.

But where will people shop and entertain themselves once those festivals and food trucks pack up and leave? As of today, there is no supermarket or pharmacy within walking distance of Rochester's center.

What is the BID?

• Before a geographic perimeter is permanently set, property owners -commercial or residential -- in the proposed area vote on whether they want to be a part of it or not. Once the lines are drawn, they are not easily changed.

• BID funding comes from an obligatory payment by property owners that is distributed for enhancement projects. The levy amount for a

Rochester BID is yet to be determined. • The staff of BIDs help to advertise the commercial businesses and events in their area. • BIDs are held accountable by a board comprised of business owners, city government and neighborhood residents. • In Rochester, city council also reviews the budget, assessment, and contract for the BID each year.

Why BID?

Some cities around the country have seen positive outcomes through BIDs, known by other acronyms depending on the state. They have used their improvement districts to dramatically change the landscape, ushering in new

amenities, restaurants, green spaces, entertainment and residents to enjoy it. Buffalo has one.

Downtown Philadelphia is an example of a successful improvement district. Over a timespan of 30 years, their BID called Center City District now employs more than 250 residents, has increased the number of restaurants in the area tenfold, hosts major events and manages parks and art installations.

If BIDs are so great, why is there opposition?

Some people feel that this well-intentioned money should be spent where people need it most, like in the 19th Ward, on Hudson and Joseph avenues or Clarissa Street.

Shane Wiegand, local historian and community activist, worries about lines being drawn around any area in Rochester. "There is an emotional reaction that comes up with the idea of making an outline around certain streets and neighborhoods for targeted investment. We have seen that before with redlining."

More concerns about a potential Rochester BID

• Extra taxes upon taxes might drive out small businesses already struggling with streetscape construction and a low downtown population. • Those who are opposed may feel that the boundary area will not be beneficial to current city residents of diverse backgrounds. • Without a doubt the labor community will ask: What will happen to their members who perform similar work in that area? • Will this BID pay for security as others do?

The most important question of all remains: Will all engaged voices be heard and concerns considered?

The latest city council vote to move forward with BID exploration passed 6-3. But some city council members who voted against the measure say that voting yes would feel like "pressing play" on a stacked deck and that more conversations need to happen before the city goes down that road.

Can the city create a department to do BID-like things?

All cities have a defined operating budget for providing services for their residents and businesses. They also have to pay thousands of permanent employees. City halls simply do not have the ability to laser in on a single area for a protracted amount of time like a BID can.

BIDs can hire a dedicated staff through their own funding that does not come from city coffers, but instead from the businesses that can directly benefit from its efforts.

Philadelphia CCD President and CEO Paul Levy's advice for any city exploring a BID is to not focus on everything at once. Improvement districts can't solve poverty or build housing, but they can create an "attractive and supportive public environment where everyone feels welcome, where development is supported and people feel encouraged to be there," he said.

If not approached in a considerate and inclusive way, a BID can harm the community by only catering to a certain economic class.

The Rochester Downtown Partnership in concert with the RDDC, ROC2025 and Empire State Development through ROC the Riverway, will be conducting public meetings in conjunction with the city about what the community wants to see happen and why.

Over a period of three to four years, the consortium will provide seed funding amounting to some $5 million that will help the intermediary Partnership perform like a BID while the community weighs in. Find out more at RochesterDowntown.com

New York Times, Oct. 30, 2022

Downtown Comebacks

The pandemic tested and reshaped the hearts of American cities.

By German Lopez

Oct. 30, 2022

American downtowns are working to recover after the Covid pandemic upended their roles as business centers and community hubs. To find out how these efforts are going, Times reporters recently visited the downtown areas in Washington, D.C.; Hartford, Conn.; Salt Lake City; Seattle and elsewhere. They discovered that some are struggling while others have come back even stronger. I asked Mike Baker, who’s based in Seattle and contributed to the project, about what they saw.

German: I was struck by the emptiness in Cincinnati, where I live, during the height of the pandemic. Even today, the city can still feel much quieter than it did before Covid. Is this common across the country?

Mike: There’s definitely an eerie quiet. Some neighborhoods are well short of the vibrancy they had a few years ago. There are boarded-up windows. In some cities, there’s this feeling of an empty sidewalk where you’re used to having larger crowds.

So people will come downtown and feel like there’s nobody or very few people there. You lose the sense that this is a gathering place for the community. And that contributes to people not really wanting to come back.

Downtown Chicago in August.Credit...Jamie Kelter Davis for The New York Times

What did the pandemic bring?

There are positive and negative trends out there.

So many downtowns have embraced outdoor dining and expanded restaurant patios and have become more walking-friendly. A lot of midsize cities, like Salt Lake City, have seen explosive growth around new businesses and attractions downtown. Some cities have made investments to draw in more people, and they’re actually seeing more visitors than they did before the pandemic.

At the same time, major urban centers still have less commuter foot traffic than they did before the pandemic because so many people are still working from home. So some businesses don’t have the traffic to survive. Some downtown neighborhoods are struggling with crime and homelessness. And housing affordability seems to be on everybody’s mind at this point, especially here in Seattle.

Seattle seems like an interesting case, because Amazon is headquartered downtown yet is arguably deepening some downtowns’ problems by making it easier to shop online instead of in person.

Yeah. Even before the pandemic, Amazon’s explosive growth heavily contributed to housing shortfalls in Seattle. Then all this infrastructure was built to support the tech workers at the South Lake Union neighborhood, where Amazon is. During the pandemic, many of these tech workers started working remotely, and all these businesses suddenly had very few people to serve.

These are tech workers with good incomes who are no longer coming to that part of the city regularly. That’s a huge setback.

But Seattle might be better positioned than some cities. It has cruise ship terminals, which bring visitors from all over the country on summer weekends. There’s a waterfront under development that connects the Pike Place Market up north down to football and baseball stadiums in the south. There’s an expanding convention center and a new N.H.L. team that plays in the area.

You mentioned crime and homelessness. How much are they playing a role in downtowns’ problems?

You certainly hear about both a lot from residents, visitors and business owners.

I was in Oregon recently to report on the governor’s race, and all the candidates were talking about how unsafe downtown Portland has become.

Yet even there, the variation is remarkable: I could walk through the waterfront, and people were walking their dogs, jogging or just enjoying the scenery. But if you turn just a couple blocks from the waterfront into the Old Town neighborhood, you can see widespread homelessness, drug use. There are people lying motionless on the sidewalk or in the middle of the road.

There is this tension. Officials talk about trying to build more affordable housing and provide more services for drug addiction and mental health, but that takes time. But there’s a sense of urgency — that we need to do something to get people back downtown, and locals want quick solutions to homelessness.

Considering those problems, are cities making progress on revitalizing downtowns?

Some places are. One place I visited was Nampa, Idaho, a city of 100,000 people west of Boise. Years ago, the city had this really vibrant downtown with retail outlets that brought people from around the area. But then a mall was built on the edge of town. And then an even bigger mall was built farther away in Boise. Then Amazon came along, popularizing online shopping. And then the pandemic.

The city started working to reverse the trends — to build a community gathering place. But instead of building back in the retail-focused style of the old downtown, today’s efforts are more about restaurants than shops, and more emphasis on people living there instead of driving downtown. It’s different, but it’s about adapting to the changes and finding the right mix to make this spot appealing again. So far, it appears to be working.