Business improvement districts (BIDs) are local organizations that have been revitalizing commercial areas for the last two decades in the United States. However, not every commercial district has succeeded in establishing BIDs despite some initial efforts. This research presents a comparative examination of two neighborhoods in Los Angeles—MacArthur Park and the Byzantine Latino Quarter (BLQ)—to examine the BID formation process in poor immigrant neighborhoods and to identify how community characteristics differ between the neighborhood that succeeded in BID formation and the other that did not. The BLQ displayed distinguishable factors that may have contributed to successful BID formation, including invested community stakeholders, organizational resources, residents’ activism, and efforts to embrace multiethnic groups. This research demonstrates that community organizing capacity and characteristics can change the course and outcome of BID formation. This study also offers insights for multicultural community organizing and equitable distribution of public services to the areas with inconclusive or ineffective efforts of BID formation. © 2015, © The Author(s) 2015.

business improvement districts (BIDs) Community organizing community development low-income immigrant neighborhoods

California Los Angeles [California] business development immigrant multiculturalism low income population public service neighborhood community organization United States community development