Alex Stettinski on the Downtown Reno Partnership

You've probably seen the Reno Ambassadors rolling around on their Segways downtown, giving directions and checking on businesses and generally tasked with keeping the streets of Downtown Reno clean and safe. They're a part of the Downtown Reno Partnership, a Business Improvement District (BID) tasked with improving Downtown Reno. But what is a BID and how does it work?

On this week's episode of Renoites, we welcome Alex Stettinski, the executive director of the Downtown Reno Partnership. Alex moved to Reno to lead the organization when it began 3 years ago. He relocated from the Los Angeles area, where he's long worked on BIDs and neighborhood organizations which have had a large impact in improving various LA-area communities.

Conor and Alex talk about the purpose of Business Improvement Districts and how they work, who is paying for the services they provide, the tangible benefits of property assessments vs taxes, the impact of the Downtown Partnership on the number of police calls, why the Ambassadors are well suited to build relationships with and provide resources to unhoused people, changing the public perception of downtown, the important of place-making projects like the recently completed Locomotion Plaza, and much more!

You can learn more about the Downtown Reno Partnership and subscribe to their newsletter at downtownreno.org

Thank you for listening! Go spend some time and money downtown!