BDC is seeking community partners to launch the organization’s Commercial District Assessment (CDA) Initiative. Commercial districts are the lifeblood of a strong and resilient local economy, generating wealth, jobs, needed goods and services, and civic infrastructure for City residents. As economic development professionals and local stakeholders, we all know what a strong commercial district feels like. It has lots of foot traffic, with well maintained public and private spaces and buildings, an appropriate mix of retail opportunities, supported by strong local organizations and events. However, public policy decisions are driven by data, not feelings. For a variety of reasons, existing data sources do not paint a clear picture of commercial district health. Many demographic datasets have geographic limitations that do not align with district boundaries. Most retail analyses miss key pieces of data or cannot be validated by field-based observations. A new toolkit is needed to better understand the factors that influence commercial district health and resilience in Baltimore City.
The CDA Initiative aims to assess the health of the City’s commercial districts through a data-driven framework verified through on-the-ground analysis from partners most connected to the district. Ultimately, by better understanding what factors most impact the strength of commercial corridors, BDC and other stakeholders can shape future economic development policies, programs, and funding for a more equitable economy, shaped by local people and places.
Partner organizations selected during the Commercial District Profile Program will work with BDC’s Neighborhood Development and Data Analytics teams to conduct on-the-ground windshield surveys and real estate profiles of their commercial corridor, which will be completed on a free mobile app. These surveys will look at critical corridor characteristics, such as commercial property condition, public right-of-way makeup, retail tenancy, and more that will be combined with community data to create a Commercial District Profile.
Pilot examples of Commercial District Profiles
By participating in the pilot release of the CDA Initiative, a community partner will have access to enhanced data collection and analysis critical for understanding the strengths and weaknesses of their commercial district. At the end of the program, BDC will create a publicly available Commercial District Profile for the selected partner districts. This website and set of materials will assist a community partner in planning future funding requests and marketing their district to key stakeholders.
A maximum of eight (8) districts will be selected for this initial phase of the CDA Initiative. Selected community partners will be expected to participate in a BDC kick-off training session to learn how to use the CDA windshield and real estate survey. After training, each partner organization will be expected to conduct a windshield and real estate survey of their corridor. BDC estimates that completion of a survey will take approximately 15-30 minutes per identified block of a corridor.
Initiative Timeline
Eligible applicants must be:
Community partners will be selected based on a variety of criteria with the goal of not just conducting initial surveying but assisting BDC with refining the CDA process and developing future district projects. BDC will evaluate applicants based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to:
Express your interest in becoming a community partner with the via the Partnership Interest Form.
