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Be <br />Clean, Safe, and Friendly <br />Successful BIDs keep standards for mainte- <br />nance, cleanliness, and security high. They <br />also organize activities and events that draw <br />customers to the shopping street, as in <br />Cleveland, Ohio's Playhouse Square. <br />If a neighborhood shopping street is clean, safe, and <br />friendly, customers will be drawn to their favorite shops <br />even though the street as a whole may still be in transition <br />from failure to success. If even one of these characteristics <br />is absent, some neighborhood residents will continue to <br />shop elsewhere, and few commuters are likely to stop as <br />they drive through. Achieving an acceptable comfort level <br />for neighborhood shoppers, however, won't happen without <br />a coordinated, holistic approach to addressing the street's <br />underlying problems and deficiencies. <br />To solve these problems, an ongoing management entity for <br />the street should be created to perform many of the tasks that <br />a shopping center manager performs. This organization will <br />need to manage the street in perpetuity, operate it like a <br />shopping center, protect its competitive position against more established retail <br />locations, and ensure that it does not slip back into its old dysfunctional ways. A <br />BID is an effective vehicle to act as the management entity because it has the sup- <br />port of the property owners and has a dedicated income stream to support its activi- <br />ties. If a BID is not available to fill the management role, it may fall to a group of <br />business leaders, retailers, or city government representatives. <br />Think of the street holistically. Work <br />with the city to stringently enforce <br />building health and safety codes to <br />maintain the street's quality, appear- <br />ance, and safety. But make sure the <br />codes are flexible and suitable for <br />older/historic buildings, and don't <br />stymie undercapitalized but legitimate <br />improvement efforts. <br />Be the advocate for the neighbor- <br />hood —lobby for scarce resources and <br />ensure that commitments are fulfilled. <br />Regularly check the puke of prop- <br />erty owners and retailers to keep on <br />top of issues, concerns, and problems <br />before they spin out of control. <br />18 <br />