Over the past 30 years, New City America has become one of the premier companies in the United States dedicated to improving downtowns, key business districts, new communities, and mixed-use communities nationwide. As of the summer of 2025, New City America has achieved the following:

1. Formed its 101st Business Improvement District/Community Benefit District nationwide.

2. Worked in over 20 states in the U.S., with upcoming projects in Canada.

3. Successfully established assessment districts that collectively contribute over $120 million annually in annual revenues to their respective BID/CBD districts.

4. Successfully managed 8 districts throughout California, with annual revenues approaching $10 million in 2026.

New City America is also launching its affiliate company, New City Public Spaces, to provide public space conceptual designs, financing plans, and implementation services for districts seeking placemaking support. Together, New City America and New City Public Spaces use the funding and goals of each district to transform new and existing public spaces into vibrant gathering places that serve customers, visitors, and employees.

Over the years, New City America has developed an adaptable framework for the structural organization of the nonprofit district management corporations it operates or has operated in the past. The five principles that guide this framework serve as the “five fingers on a hand” and provide practical tools for accelerating district improvements.

The Five Principles of the New City Standard:

1. Building the Concept of “Place”: Names and identities matter. While New York City’s Central Park might have had a poor image in the 1970s and 1980s, the “place” has since been radically improved and now stands out as one of the most attractive and well-managed parks in the world today. Whether historic or new, a “place” must have a compelling history or vision for city-building. The place is central to everything a District Management Corporation does; it is the foundation of the improvement project. The goal is that when someone mentions the “place” where one might be working, a positive image should come to mind.

2. Establishing Sustainable Revenues: Many groups, whether they be merchant associations, Main Street organizations, Chambers of Commerce, or local business associations, tend to falter and not achieve their collective goals due to the lack of sustainable revenues. Revenues can take the form of property assessments, hotel tax supplements, parking meter revenues, or District Management Corporation-controlled enterprises.

Undercapitalized District Management Corporations cannot achieve sustainable growth and impact without sustainable revenues. This is key to launching any program for ongoing improvement in a business district or downtown. We have learned that if you don’t create a sustainable revenue stream that is large enough to make an impact, the effort will ultimately fail because having an undercapitalized business or community association is similar to operating an undercapitalized business. You need to generate sufficient revenue to make an ongoing, lasting impact.

3. Creating an Entrepreneurial District Management Corporation: One of the most significant challenges New City America has observed over the past 30 years is that most BIDs/CBDs rely solely on their assessment revenues to fund improvements.

Some of the most successful districts use their nonprofit District Management Corporation as a vehicle for rapid improvements by launching programs and activities that generate non-assessment district revenues. These non-assessment district revenues can be “taste of your neighborhood” events, public space development, renting out your public space for special events, producing and selling merchandise that promotes your district, farmers markets, makers markets, and soliciting charitable donations to build your funding base. We recommend that all nonprofit District Management Corporations be structured as 501c3, public benefit corporations, enabling them to pursue foundation and public grants for the benefit of the district stakeholders and community. Some of the best examples of entrepreneurial approaches to supplement the sustainable revenues of a District can be found in the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation, San Diego’s Little Italy Association, as well as many of the districts that New City America manages in California.

4. Politics and Timing: We have experienced many situations in which local City Councils desire to see new improvement districts formed; however, the local business and property owners feel that they would become burdened with additional fees or assessments. At other times, the local property owners seek to create new financing mechanisms in the form of locally controlled assessment districts, while political will on the part of elected officials doesn’t support that effort. There must be a balance of politics and timing to reach the goal of a successful and growing District Management Corporation with sustainable funding.

5. Managing in Real Time: We hope that we never experience the forced government shutdowns brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. No one had ever faced the complete and total shutdown of business communities nationwide as we did in early 2020. Whether it be through natural disasters, economic dislocation, or structural budget deficits that are plaguing thousands of American cities today, District Management Corporation Boards and staff must learn how to come up with strategies that keep things going and keep their respective downtowns and business communities alive.

New City America is launching a new consulting feature that will allow current BID/CBD Board members and staff to ask questions and receive feedback on their district challenges. Groups can now book 30-minute or one-hour sessions to learn more from New City America’s 30 years of district management experience. Though it might cost a bit to tap into this knowledge, we believe that our input can expedite the resolution of your problems.

Using this five-step program of the New City Standard creates a template we can all learn from. We welcome your feedback and potential participation in our growing educational efforts nationwide. For more information, please contact us at (888) 356-2726 or via email at mail@newcityamerica.com.