Property-Based or Public Business Improvement Districts (PBIDs) can really transform a community, with enhanced private security and cameras, keeping the area clean with facility staff (pressure washing streets, buff graffiti, watering green spaces, hoisting street banners, etc), marketing businesses, and more. It's not a new concept though, places like Downtown Pomona, Pasadena's Old Town, Figueroa Corridor, and Uptown Whittier have had PBIDs for quite some time now.
Even in places like Pasadena, they didn't solve even their most pressing challenges right away. My dad, who was an architectural engineer, setting structural community designs in several cities, was actually involved in conversations around Pasadena’s Old Town PBID and used to tell me how tough it was to get everyone on board with the idea, especially with PBIDs coming with costs, mainly footed by property owners through assessment fees. The strategy for Pasadena's Old Town PBID didn't start overnight. They started by ensuring ample parking for the potential growth of walking traffic, then beautified walkways from those structures to Colorado Blvd, then Parklet benches, then trash cans, and eventually the buy-in of anchor businesses.
You need a dedicated board of business owners, property owners, sometimes residents, and lots of community involvement to set up a highly functioning PBID properly . It reminds me of how it took years for the Pomona Arts District to take off, with folks like Ed Tessier leading the charge back in '94. It took another decade to get the Downtown Pomona Owners Association (DPOA) up and running. And even with 20 years of PBID action, there are still challenges.
Even with all the benefits, like boosting businesses and enhancing safety, we have to be realistic. Just dropping a PBID on East Holt Blvd won't magically solve all our problems. Take Pasadena's Old Town for example, they still grappled with issues like crime and human trafficking for many years despite having a PBID since 2000. It's been a gradual process, starting with small improvements and gradually gaining momentum.
As someone who's been an involved business owner, a non-profit president, and a resident in Downtown Pomona, I've seen firsthand what a PBID can do. But I also get that it's not a cure-all for everything. We've got to work together as a community, identify creative solutions with policing challenges due to poorly written policy and support organizations on the ground tackling tough issues like trafficking and homelessness. It's going to take a real community effort to make lasting change on East Holt Blvd. We must also be careful to not allow this restructuring to create mass displacement, but instead create an inclusive strategy that uplifts our current small businesses and residents who have made our community unique. There must be balance.
The discussion of bringing a PBID in other areas of Pomona has been on the table for many years, specifically looking at the beneficial example of the transformation in Downtown Pomona. More recently the Pomona Chamber of Commerce jumped on board to bring a group of business owners together to discuss the viability. In a Daily Bulletin article (Sept 2023), Mayor Tim Sandoval stated, “A business improvement district for Holt is still in the early stages of planning, but ideally it would pattern itself after the downtown district.” Last year, the City of Pomona released an RFP (Request for Proposal) and received one bid from Civitas Advisors, Inc out of Sacramento, who has worked on multiple PBIDs within California. To my knowledge, this contract has yet to be approved.
I know what a PBID can bring to the table in regards to progressive movement, public safety, business support, and community development, however I also understand the complexities of our public safety issues and know that simply creating a PBID on East Holt Blvd will not fix trafficking, prostitution, homelessness, petty crime and other challenges. It will take more. It will take creatively working with the community to develop trust and action. It will take a community approach, rather than a transactional approach to shift East Holt Blvd’s reputation.
To see what other California cities are doing in regards to PBIDs, visit CaliforniaDowntown.com.