Fri. September 26, 2014
WASHINGTON, DC— The DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID) was home to 5,541 sidewalk cafe seats at 178 cafes in 2014, a 7.9 percent increase in the number of cafes since 2013, according to a new survey conducted by the BID’s department of Public Space Management in the summer of 2014. A total of 13 new sidewalk cafes opened in the BID in the last year, adding to the 165 cafes documented in the BID’s 2013 sidewalk cafe survey.
These and other fun facts this year can be easily analyzed from your own desktop computer using the BID’s interactive Sidewalk Cafe story map, created using ArcGIS Online generated by Esri. By using this technology, users are offered a visual representation of sidewalk cafe density and have the opportunity to personally delve further into cafe details and data.
Through the survey, the BID has identified the K Street Corridor and Penn Quarter as the two Downtown areas possessing the highest concentrations of sidewalk cafes. These two areas, when combined, are home to nearly 70 unique sidewalk cafe locations.
The BID’s Sidewalk Cafe analysis this year yielded multiple new statistics, including details on the confirmed continued growth of cafes and seats in the BID over the last five years, the exact growth for large, medium and small size cafes and more. [See Table 1.0 above]
The average number of seats for a Downtown cafe this year was 31. A cafe with three seats was the smallest recorded cafe in this summer’s survey and the largest cafe had 243 seats.
The DowntownDC BID’s Public Space Management department conducts a sidewalk cafe survey each summer, dividing the BID’s 138-block area into eight zones and canvassing each zone between the lunch rush of 11am-2pm.
The DowntownDC BID actively supports the growth of sidewalk cafes, which significantly contribute to the vibrancy of urban streetscapes and enhance the quality of life for all Downtown residents, workers and visitors.
About the DowntownDC BID
The DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID) is a private non-profit organization that provides capital improvements, resources and research to help diversify the economy and enhance the Downtown experience for all. This special district, where property owners have agreed to tax themselves to fund services, encompasses a 138-block area of approximately 520 buildings from Massachusetts Avenue on the north to Constitution Avenue on the south, and from Louisiana Avenue on the east to 16th Street on the west. As a catalyst, facilitator and thought leader, the DowntownDC BID promotes public/private partnerships to create a remarkable urban environment. For more information, visit www.DowntownDC.org or follow us on Twitter @downtowndcbid.