Business Improvement Districts and the Constitution: The Troubling Necessity of Privatized Government for Urban Revitalization
![handle is hein.journals/hascq38 and id is 97 raw text is: Business Improvement Districts and the
Constitution: The Troubling Necessity of
Privatized Government for Urban
Revitalization
by WAYNE BATCHIS*
Introduction
Quasi-governmental Business Improvement Districts (BIDs)
have proliferated in cities across the country. By compensating for
the service deficiencies of under-performing city governments, BIDs
have been a notable bright-spot in what has otherwise been a grim
half-century for America's cities. BIDs have been hailed as a
remarkable practical success in the struggle to revitalize urban centers
and neighborhoods throughout America. However, their
constitutional roots have yet to be explored in significant depth by
law and politics scholars.
The decades-long decline in the health and wealth of urban
politics and affairs has been well documented. The flight of middle-
class residents, retail and business to the suburbs and exurbs has left
cities with depleted resources, crumbling infrastructure, a deflated tax
base, and an increasingly needy population. At the same time,
suburban municipalities, armed with the power to draw political
boundaries and keep urban poverty at bay through exclusionary
zoning, immunized themselves from many of the worst problems
* Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, 2009: J.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1999. This
article benefited from the comments of participants and attendees of a panel at the 2010
Law and Society Association Annual Meeting in Chicago where a version of this paper
was first presented. Particular thanks to discussant Michael Coenen, for his thoughtful
and encouraging commentary.
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Business Improvement Districts and the Constitution: The Troubling Necessity of Privatized Government for Urban Revitalization
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