What We Do

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Downtown DC is the most diverse and exciting neighborhood in one of the most important cities in the world. Here, locals and visitors find all the most thrilling experiences of DC in 140 walkable and transit-rich blocks: business, education, and government; shopping and dining; parks, art, music, sports, theater, history—adding up to a bright future.

The BID was founded in 1997 as the city’s first private nonprofit place management organization where property owners agree to tax themselves to fund services that enhance people’s experiences in the neighborhood.

The BID’s area includes 530 properties, 32 public parks, memorials and plaza, and is defined by Massachusetts Avenue on the north, including the Walter E. Washington Convention Center at Mount Vernon Square, to Constitution Avenue on the south, and from Louisiana Avenue on the east to 16th Street on the west.

Our SAMs Are Happy to See You Downtown

A large group of approximately 30 people, likely employees or volunteers, pose for a lively group photo outdoors in a park. All are wearing matching red jackets or sweatshirts and black caps. Many are smiling, cheering, or raising their hands in celebration. The group is standing and crouching in the center of the frame on a patch of dirt and grass, with trees and a large green lawn visible in the background.

DowntownDC’s Safety/Hospitality and Maintenance (SAM) Ambassadors are the hosts, eyes, ears, and caretakers of Downtown.

SAMs offer directions, report emergencies, accompany people to garages or public transportation after hours, and report issues in the public realm. They also remove litter, trash, recycling, posters and graffiti from Downtown streets, and perform landscaping, painting, and power washing across the area. All SAM ambassadors are CPR and AED-trained for emergency purposes.

Our SAM team also supports the community through outreach to individuals experiencing homelessness .

Need a hand? Look for the distinctive SAM uniforms around Downtown and you’ll find an extra-friendly one or more.

Keeping Downtown Green

A panoramic photograph of a city park on a bright, sunny day, surrounded by tall urban buildings. A wide, paved pathway curves through the scene, dividing a central green lawn. The lawn is bordered by low hedges and flowering shrubs, interspersed with dark wooden benches. In the middle distance, there are red umbrellas and a small fountain. A mix of modern and historic architecture frames the park against a blue sky with white clouds.

The DowntownDC BID works in close partnership with the National Parks Service (NPS) to maintain and improve the BID’s 32 public parks, totaling 27 acres of open space. The BID’s general partnership agreement with the NPS enables us to supplement maintenance through trash collection, cleaning, and landscaping services.

In contrast, the BID is the sole general maintenance provider for Franklin Park, Downtown DC’s largest green space, with funding provided in part by the DowntownDC Foundation. Franklin Park’s $21 million overhaul and redesign, completed in 2021, serves as a blueprint for future investments in open spaces throughout Downtown DC

The DowntownDC BID has also collaborated with the NPS, the DC Department of Parks and Recreation, and a diverse range of BID stakeholders to create the DowntownDC Parks Master Plan. This comprehensive document identifies challenges and opportunities around Downtown’s open spaces, and offers six system-wide recommendations to make the public realm more engaging, adaptable, connected, and iconic.

Improving the Downtown Experience

A group of people is gathered indoors in front of a colorful, graffiti-style mural. A well-dressed Black man in a light blue patterned suit jacket and glasses is speaking into several microphones held by reporters outside the frame. He is flanked by a man in a red uniform and a bearded man in a dark suit and a bow tie. A woman in a gray jacket and a woman in a green blazer stand to his right, smiling and listening. Another man in a red uniform and tie looks on from the far right.

The DowntownDC BID’s Public Space department utilizes innovative technology, city and private partnerships and SAM Ambassadors to both catalog, oversee, and improve public space in Downtown DC A diverse range of quality assurance initiatives, which work to maintain public space and reducing disorder, include:

  • Public Space Conditions Database utilized by SAM Ambassadors that allows BID stakeholders to instantly report problems about permanent, fixed assets as well as variable problems including vandalism and abandoned bicycles.
  • Streetscape Guidelines developed by the DowntownDC BID that inform all Downtown street reconstruction and resurfacing contracts and dictate standards for tree planting, waste receptacles, accessibility regulations, design and more.
  • Public Safety Alliance uniting BID stakeholders and property managers with local and federal law enforcement agencies, including the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), U.S. Park Police (USPP), DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA), Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD) and others.
  • Homeless Support Services that provide support for individuals experiencing homelessness.