The Central Business District CBD Central Business District

The Central Business District (CBD)

Central Business District The central business district is where most business and commerce is located takes up less than 1% of the urban land area, yet contains a large % of the services offered in the city public, business, and consumer services are ALL offered in the CBD

Public Services in the CBD public services include city hall, courts, county and state agencies, and libraries centrally located for ease of accessibility to all residents sports centers and conventions centers are often downtown to stimulate commerce in the CBD

Business Services in the CBD examples include advertising agencies, banks, financial institutions, and law firms proximity to other business service providers promotes collaboration and face-to-face meetings

Consumer Services in the CBD historically, three types of retail services clustered in a CBD: • retailers with a high threshold • retailers with a high range • retailers that served people who worked in the CBD changing shopping habits and a shift of the more affluent to the suburbs have reduced the importance of retail services in the CBD

Characteristics of the CBD at A Glance vertical landscapes (above and below!) expensive land values department stores & specialist shops shopping malls and pedestrian areas cultural/historical buildings, museums offices, finance, banks, administration, town hall bus, subway, and railway stations • multi-story parking lots • •

Did You Know? skyscrapers are illegal in Washington, DC! the downtown core doesn’t have a single building taller than 14 stories in 1899, Congress passed the Heights of Buildings Act at first limiting buildings to the height of the U. S. Capitol

Competition for Land in the CBD high demand + limited space = vertical development Underground CBD • dense network of infrastructure • underground passageways Skyscrapers • demand for space in CBDs has made high-rise structures economically practical Bid-Rent Curve

What Is NOT in the CBD? MANUFACTURING • historically manufacturing was located in CBDs along waterfronts, but many of these ports are too small for modern ships and the ports have moved • the large land areas manufacturing needs are available in the suburbs at lower prices • cities are converting abandoned waterfronts to new commercial and recreational activities

What Is NOT in the CBD? RESIDENTS (20 TH C) pushed and pulled to suburbs: • larger homes with yards (pull) • modern schools (pull) • increased rents because retail wanted the space (push) • pollution, crime, congestion (push) NOTE! there is a current trend (21 st C) for young professional and older “empty-nesters” to move back to the CBD

Food Deserts an area in a developed country where food is hard to obtain often in poor, downtown neighborhoods, and affects cities’ poorest residents