Building The Future
Of Our City, Together.
BRINGING A BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
TO DOWNTOWN POUGHKEEPSIE
A BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT IS A GEOGRAPHICAL AREA WHERE LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS OVERSEE AND FUND THE MAINTENANCE, IMPROVEMENT, AND PROMOTION OF THEIR COMMERCIAL CORRIDOR.
Our mission is to support clean and safe streets downtown, attract new commercial tenants, increase foot traffic, improve public perception, and create a higher quality of life for those that call Poughkeepsie home.
This is our moment in Downtown Poughkeepsie. The recent completion of major projects like Luckey Platt, The Academy, and 40 Cannon (just to name a few) have created great momentum in our city. Now, with record investment pouring in and plans to re-imagine our historic downtown with new restaurants, shops, hotels, and entertainment venues, the time is right for our citizens to band together and lead the way in establishing The Queen City as the next great jewel of the Hudson Valley.
By creating a Business Improvement District (BID) in our commercial core, local people - not politicians - will have a voice in what is the future of our city and direct control over funding to make a tangible impact on ensuring we have clean and safe streets, an engaging identity, and are welcoming to new residents, visitors, and businesses.
Working together is the only way to fulfill our vast potential. We’re building a coalition of property owners, business owners, and residents to work hand-in-hand with our partners in City government to create a BID that is uniquely tailored to the needs of Poughkeepsie at both this present moment and long into the future.
We invite you to join us on this exciting journey, but we know you have questions. Answers to many can be found on this website. If you have others, please contact us.
AREAS OF FOCUS
Clean and Beautiful Streets
Through beautification efforts like planting trees, hanging flowers, emptying garbage, picking up litter, cleaning graffiti, installing seasonal decorations, and supporting public art we will ensure the streets of downtown are inviting for residents and visitors alike.
Safe and Welcoming Downtown
To support a safe and welcoming downtown, we will work to install additional lighting and on-street cameras, advocate for the proper police presence to support our communities needs, and create a uniformed, on-street Ambassador corps to greet and guide guests to our city.
The small businesses that make up our downtown are the heart and soul of the community. We want to support their growth and success by advocating for ordinance enforcement, finding appropriate solutions to challenges like parking, attracting new businesses to open in vacant storefronts, and by collectively marketing the district to increase foot traffic.
Helping Small Business Thrive
Creating Our Downtown Identity
We want people to know that Downtown Poughkeepsie is a vibrant community rooted in history full of amazing art, culture, entertainment, shopping, and dining. We’ll do this by displaying our branding throughout the district, hosting engaging signature events, and installing new historical interpretive and way-finding signage.
RETURN ON INVESTMENT
A successful BID will deliver a tremendous return on investment for Downtown Poughkeepsie by helping raise property values, lower vacancy rates, increase foot traffic, and create a nimble, community-run apparatus to accept donations, apply for grant funding, and raise sponsorship dollars.
Every single dollar that the BID receives is spent in service of improving Downtown Poughkeepsie, and an open board of directors comprised solely of local stakeholders directs how the money is spent in response to the needs of the community at the time. There are no mandates, and the budget is not beholden to the priorities of any elected official.
Defining Downtown Poughkeepsie’s
Commercial Core
LET’S DO THIS TOGETHER!
We need your support. Be part of this positive, grassroots effort to revitalize our downtown and improve the vibrant, urban core of Poughkeepsie for generations to come.
Enter your email below to receive updates about the BID and how we can collaborate to build Poughkeepsie’s future.