California Downtown Association
President and CEO of Downtown Long Beach Associates, which administers the local Business Improvement District, and Board President of the California Downtown Association, a statewide group of BID's
PROFILE
Kraig Kojian
Guest
FROM Kraig Kojian
Which Way, L.A.?
Are Business Improvement Districts on the Way Out? Many artists moved into the eastern edge of downtown Los Angeles because of cheap rents for available space in warehouses and lofts. Homeless people were left alone. Then landlords agreed to pay fees for a Business Improvement District , or BID, that provided security, trash removal and marketing to lure investors. The district, one of nine in downtown alone, is now a hot real-estate market. Was the BID responsible for gentrification? For the past two years there's been dispute over whether it should continue. Recently, a judge settled the issue by ordering the BID to disband, as KCRW producer Evan George reports.
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