To BIA, or not to BIA? Good Question!
Galerie Cube Gallery
Just what is a BIA, anyway? How are Business Improvement Areas created, why do they exist, and how do they work?
On this walk, tour leader Dennis Van Staalduinen will take you through some of the fascinating aspects of BIAs, their remarkable powers and structure, and some of the ways they help to create, animate, and enhance Ottawa's urban public spaces. You'll learn about:
- Origins, history, and nature of the BIA model
- Voluntary taxation and other remarkable hidden powers of a BIA
- The story of how one BIA, Wellington West, came to be
- The tensions involved in balancing commercial, social, and "gentrification" pressures
- 'Beautification': an ugly word for making stuff pretty
- Events and promotion: how BIAs try to help local businesses
- Advocacy, or how BIAs get active (without getting political)
- Public spaces: projects and opportunities in Wellington West
