The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities

Cities and Regions Can Generate Profound Lasting Benefits by Investing in Downtowns and Center Cities

While small in geographic area, downtowns are immensely valuable, diverse, efficient, inclusive and resilient on multiple levels. From driving tax revenue and business activity to hosting a concentration of resources, amenities, and social infrastructure, downtowns are at the heart of the long-term health of a region. The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities research articulates the inherent value a downtown provides to the greater city, highlighting a district’s contributions based upon 150+ key data points in the principles of Economy, Inclusion, Vibrancy, Identity and Resilience. Our data showed that while study downtowns only made up 2% of city land area, they account for outsized shares of sales in key hospitality industries, including 38% of accommodation business sales while also hosting 24% of jobs. They also have some of the most valuable real estate in their cities, with a median assessed value of $3.2 billion per square mile, compared to just $205 million per square mile city-wide. Read more about IDA’s findings here.

The methodology and data standard used in The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities study serve as a tool IDA offers to members. IDA has developed two distinct versions of the study to provide key analysis to any size organization across the United States. Future studies will expand the reach of the study to other countries. 

The Power Your Downtown Plays in Your City

The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities report shows the impact a downtown has within the context of its city and region. IDA groups each of the center cities into one of three tiers: Emerging, Growing and Established districts. These tiers are defined by stage of development of the district both in terms of density and its significance to its city, as well as the growth of the district. The resulting report is a complete, data-driven narrative of the impact of your district on the city and region designed to empower local leaders to work with the public and private sectors on multiple levels and support the continued evolution of downtown.

Comparing Your District’s Performance

To objectively benchmark downtowns, IDA launched The Value of Downtowns: Comparisons in 2020 to compare how your downtown stacks up to peers nationwide. This study focuses on select metrics from IDA’s extensive database to tell a data-driven narrative of downtown in comparison to a group of peer downtowns selected from the study. Past participants of The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities can also benefit from this Comparisons study with updates to their data from prior years.

How to Participate

Put your downtown on the map and contribute to the place management industry. IDA’s research supports the development of your downtown or district and is a vital step towards helping your organization prioritize its efforts. In addition, you support the place management industry by implementing an IDA-approved data standard and universal key metrics. 

The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities report is particularly well-suited to organizations who are just starting their research journey and looking for a downtown-focused data framework, The Value of Downtowns: Comparisons is best for organizations who already collect a significant amount of data (such as for “State of Downtown” reports), and are interested in more detailed analysis of benchmark data across different downtowns in the U.S. 

The window for participating in the 2025 study has closed. To learn more, please email Cathy Lin, AICP, Director of Research, or call at (202) 798-5924.