The Crossroads Arts District is experiencing a renaissance. What was once a mostly vacant concrete jungle is now home to many small businesses. This sudden boom has ironically led the district to a crossroads:
Should it form a Community Improvement District (CID)?
What is a CID?
Basically, it’s a homeowners’ association, business edition. Funding for the Crossroads CID would come from membership fees paid by property owners and a sales tax.
Using those funds, the Crossroads CID would paint the district with:
- First Fridays management complete with security, port-a-potties, traffic control, EMS, additional trash cans, and staff assisting the amazing artists + tasty food trucks.
- Green trees, planting 100 annually, plus streetscape maintenance.
- An on-duty officer as well as social workers for the unhoused population.
- Installation + maintenance of 50 trash cans (one every few blocks so Oscar the Grouch can have his pick of the litter).
- Speedy graffiti removal.
How is the district currently managing?
Volunteers from the Crossroads Community Association are the unseen superheroes, managing all of the above. CID advocates want to hire staff so that the Crossroads Arts District can become more picturesque as it grows.
“We’re definitely focused on making the Crossroads safer, cleaner, and greener,” said David Johnson. He’s the project manager for the Crossroads CID, a Crossroads Community Association board member, and he owns a home in the neighborhood.
“We’re looking to maintain that at a higher level. Unfortunately, the city just doesn’t have the resources to address that properly, so that’s why we’re forming the district.”
Want a Crossroads CID?
If you are a property owner within the proposed Crossroads CID boundary, you can download this petition and sign on Page 7 by the end of 2023, get it notarized, then give it to the Crossroads team.
Registered voters within the boundary can vote in 2024 to authorize a 0.5% sales tax which would support the CID budget.
