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Our paper addresses the complex role of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) in current processes of inner-city restructuring and the function of BIDs in the implementation of new forms of social control in downtown areas. Our thesis is that, in the context of recent urban renaissance initiatives, BIDs are expanding their ‘clean and safe’ profile to be a much more comprehensive programme. Their goal is not only to produce safety and cleanliness in the urban environment but to influence the symbolic dimension of what the city is and for whom it is made. This implies indirect forms of governing the way in which the city is used, which go unnoticed if BIDs are identified solely as a tool to create ‘clean and safe’ public space. We will substantiate this claim with a case study on the current restructuring of downtown Los Angeles (L.A.). Since 1999, downtown L.A. has been profoundly ‘revitalized’ as a living and entertainment district for affluent residents. The nine BIDs covering the main parts of the downtown play an important role in making this gentrification happen by providing the appropriate context for restructuring. Beyond overt measures such as security forces or CCTV, the BIDs also have an important impact on the ‘geographical imagination’ (Harvey, 1973) of the city. The examples elucidate the anticipation of a broadening field of activity for BIDs, not only in securing an ‘urban renaissance’ but also in framing the way it is performed symbolically. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Access to parks and recreational facilities, as well as their quality, congestion, and affordability, relates to physical activity levels and, in turn, various health outcomes. Yet park and recreational resources are often insufficient and unevenly distributed within metropolitan regions. This paper documents and analyzes the allocation of federal, state, special district, municipal, and nonprofit resources to parks and recreation facilities across municipalities within the Los Angeles region. Results indicate that local funding for parks and recreation resources is highly uneven (from less than 1 to over 500 per capita annually). Because most park and recreation spending originates at the local level, fiscally healthier cities allocate more resources to these uses. State and nonprofits funds tend to favor middle-income communities and fail to equalize spending. Inner-ring suburbs with large minority populations, and low-income exurban communities are most likely to suffer from low expenditure. Federal devolution, increased localization of service provision, and limited intergovernmental transfers have resulted in large intrametropolitan disparities in the distribution of resources for parks and recreation, ultimately shaping the landscape of health risks for local populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major arts and cultural institutions have expanded their exhibits and programs to reflect society's growing diversity, but we know little about potential neighborhood disparities in arts participation within metropolitan areas and how it varies across institutions and different forms of engagement. Unlike membership, which tends to be 'market' driven, museum school tour programs often target underserved schools to engage diverse communities. We provide the first assessment to our knowledge of whether school tours provide a counterweight to more expensive forms of participation and whether ethnic-oriented institutions have been able to overcome the distance that often separates disadvantaged communities from institutions. Our analysis of participation rates for five major institutions in Los Angeles, California, indicates that, despite progress, barriers persist. Although affluent areas provide an important membership base, school tours offer a valuable tool for attracting traditional and ethnic-specific audiences and communities. The results support greater integration of city and cultural planning and suggest that institutions should redouble efforts to overcome sociocultural and geographic barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the job transitions of Asian immigrants in the metropolitan economy of Los Angeles. In such ethnically heterogeneous cities, ethnic boundaries are porous and are mediated by an intermediate mixed economy. Ethnographic interviews reveal that many immigrants prefer jobs outside the ethnic economy to obtain higher wages and fairer work rules. Multivariate analyses find that, across a succession of jobs and over time, immigrants tend to drift away from the more informal ethnic economy of the metropolis, a move that leads to higher earnings. The use of ethnic ties to locate jobs also declines. The main attraction of participation in the ethnic economy is the opportunity for self-employment. Our model of the immigrant labor market moves beyond the dualist representation of the ethnic enclave economy. We conceive of the metropolitan labor market as shaped by firm size, degree of bureaucratization, and governance structure in which interethnic economic transactions are mediated through a growing mixed economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduces a series of articles featured in the `Journal of Urban History,' North American cities and suburbs. Changes in the social composition of cities and suburbs from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth centuries; Danger posed by attempts to emphasize the diversity of suburbs; How metropolitan development in Los Angeles, California could have been shaped by public initiatives in transportation.