Solutions to an Urban Public Goods Problem: Business Improvement Districts in New Haven, Connecticut

Abstract

In downtown New Haven, the newest color is green. Festive green banners flutter from the lamp posts, welcoming visitors downtown. Along sidewalks, in window boxes, and in vestpocket parks, trees and plants flourish, with green leaves and bouquets of blossoms. On the sides of municipal buses, green placards boast the excited message "Do Downtown!" Members of a "Clean Team," dressed in distinctive fluorescent green jackets, sweep and steam-clean the sidewalks. Green bags covering parking meters on Saturdays and Sundays advertise free parking to weekend shoppers. The downtown is awash in glorious green.