Business Improvement Districts and the Shape of American Cities

Jerry Mitchell is Professor of Public Affairs at Baruch College, the City University of New York, and the author of The American Experiment with Government Corporations.

"…provides a useful overview of the organization and operation of BIDs … a solid, readable introduction." — Economic Development Quarterly"…recommended for any reader looking for a good unbiased introduction to BIDs and the growing literature and public discussion about them." — Public Administration Review"Reading about special taxing districts could be as dry as downtown Phoenix in June, but Mitchell makes it interesting. In the first half of the book, he places BIDs … squarely in urban historical context … The first half … also serves as a useful resource on American city planning theory." — Journal of the American Planning Association"Mitchell does a superb job of placing these important, recently arrived institutional actors on the urban revitalization stage into their historical policy context and nicely presents them in their appropriate place in the broad framework of American political and social thought. The book skillfully bridges questions central to public administration, urban planning, real estate, and political science, and will not only be invaluable to interdisciplinary scholars but also to local officials, including the thousands of people who staff and sit on BID governing boards and need to appreciate the wider framework in which they should view their mission. This is a seminal work." — Dennis C. Muniak, Towson University

• 1. The Shape of City Places2. Historical Connections3. The BID Approach4. The Organization of Innovation5. Making a Difference6. Evaluating Evaluations7. The Prospects for BIDsNotesIndex