Both Capital Crossroads and Discovery SIDs celebrate anniversaries in 2016, 15 years and 10 years, respectively. In the last 15 years, Downtown Columbus has undergone a real renaissance, and both SIDs play an important role. The SIDs operate with the mission of making downtown Columbus the best place to live, work and play in Central Ohio. Primary in this mission are the efforts of the ambassador safety teams who patrol the urban core, collaborate with the Columbus Division of Police and Fire, offer safety escorts to those in need and provide a walking concierge service to visitors and residents alike. The SIDs’ nationally recognized safety partnership facilitates real-time communication with safety personnel throughout downtown, offering a more holistic approach to preventing crime. In addition to safety services, both SIDs also provide homeless outreach services, helping those in need into permanent housing.

“I am thankful for the DSID Ambassadors who have kept our neighborhood safe for 10 years,” said Nancy Recchie, historic preservation expert and Discovery SID resident.

Capital Crossroads also employs clean team ambassadors who pick up litter, water flowers, power wash the sidewalks, remove graffiti and generally help keep downtown beautiful. Both SIDs enhance their efforts with special projects and events (think Pearl Market or the Topiary Park Summer Movie Series), marketing initiatives and communications, support of businesses and entrepreneurs and more.

“Our clean and safe initiatives have allowed economic development to happen downtown,” said Don DeVere, DeVere LLC, and past chairman of the Capital Crossroads SID Board of Trustees.

The changes the SIDs have brought to downtown are indisputable. If you’ve forgotten what downtown looked like prior Capital Crossroads SID formation, take a look at some of the “before” photos. One look at the statistics makes clear how such a transformation occurred.

In 15 years, the Capital Crossroads SID territory has benefitted from more than 340,000 hours of safety services and more than 300,000 hours of cleaning services (including more than 5,800 hours of graffiti tag removal). The Discovery SID has benefitted from 113,000 hours of safety services plus more than 58,000 hours of special duty police officer patrolling covering roughly 97,000 patrol miles.

Images Before and After Capital Crossroads SID Formation