Business Improvement District Council

Main Street & BIDs

Aug 20, 1998

In March of 1997, San Diego received its official citywide Main Street designation by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. San Diego is the first urban west coast city to receive such significant recognition. National Main Street Coordinator, Kennedy Smith presented an historic brick to Mayor Susan Golding at a press conference and Business Improvement District Exposition in conjunction with the City of San Diego's Office of Small Business at the U.S. Grant Hotel.

Most of San Diego's 16 business improvement districts (BIDs) had already adopted the successful Main Street methodology for economic revitalization. This involved reorganizing existing committee structures to fall in line with the four points of Main Street: Organization, Design, Promotion and Economic Revitalization. By tapping into Main Street's international resources of successful redevelopment programs, the BIDs aim to build upon these many outstanding commercial revitalization techniques.

WHAT IS MAIN STREET?

The Main Street Program is a revitalization strategy used in over 1000 cities and 40 states. Developed by the Nation Trust for Historic Preservation's National Main Street Center, the program encourages imaginative use of business and government resources to support local downtown revitalization efforts. The Center provides consulting and training services to cities and states undertaking the Main Street programs.

The Main Street approach to downtown revitalization is a comprehensive management strategy which builds on the idea that the total image of an area must be addressed for revitalization efforts to be successful. The approach is a self-help methodology which develops the downtown retail and professional area's necessary market niche; creates high-quality visual identity unique to that community; and nurtures a cultural ambiance associated with a community's location, appearance and way of life. Four major elements contribute to a downtown's total image: Organization, Design, Promotion, and Economic Restructuring.

(from the CA Trade and Commerce Agency)