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With the demise of the D.C. Streetcar along H Street, NE earlier this year, local business owners and residents feel they have no say over what comes and goes in their community.  

These business owners want to change that. One owner has proposed a solution: organizing a business improvement district.  

鈥淭he city services just aren鈥檛 enough,鈥� said Phil Coppage, H Street BID organizer and owner of Cynthia Bar and Bistro. 鈥淗 Street needs a reputational rehabilitation,鈥� said Coppage. 

Patricia Wiseman, a long-time resident of the area, would like to see more attention paid to traffic safety, scooter and pedestrian issues, and responsible pet ownership, or what she labels as everyday issues that affect how pedestrians move through the neighborhood.  

While BID services have been known to improve neglected neighborhoods, some see them as drivers for gentrification.  

However, Coppage said this BID would be driven by businesses rooted in the community.  

Coppage started an organizing entity for the BID, the H Street BID Association. 

The proposed boundaries for the BID, according to the association鈥檚 website, run from 3rd Street to 15th Street on NE H Street, along the edges of both NoMa鈥檚 and Capitol Hill鈥檚 BID boundaries.  

H Street businesses represented on the board include Cynthia鈥檚 Bar and Bistro, Atlas Performing Arts Center, Little Miner Taco, Taurus Development Group, Formant Property Group, Cane, and St. James.  

The group hopes to fund street cleaning, safety ambassadors, outreach, transportation, snow removal, and placemaking. 

The association鈥檚 website said the timing is relevant because of the construction of RFK Stadium, the city’s $4 billion reconstructed home for the Washington Commanders, which is expected to open in 2030 and will reshape traffic patterns in the area.   

D.C. has 12 BIDs currently. BIDs are groups of business owners in a neighborhood who agree to pay additional taxes that are returned entirely through the BID and its operations.

BIDs aim to improve commercial and residential communities by hiring teams to clean streets, remove graffiti, landscape, provide homeless and youth programs, deploy security teams, and make capital improvements such as installing streetlights, repairing sidewalks, and more, according to the Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD).  

The removal of the streetcar was the turning point for Coppage and what marked the inspiration to start a BID.  

鈥淭he streetcar was messed up, but it was ours, and we took a lot of pride in it,鈥� said Coppage. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e able to take away things like this from communities that really need them, that suggested to me that H Street was not organized. We have a lot of great businesses, strong businesses, and there鈥檚 no one looking out for them.鈥�

The H Street streetcar operated for a decade along H Street NE and Benning Road NE, ceasing operations March 31, 2026. It ferried passengers along the 2.4-mile corridor to increase accessibility to services and residences in the area. 

The Greater H Street BID association鈥檚 website also said the timing of the BID proposal is important due to the development of the new Gold Line, in which businesses hope to have a voice in decisions about curb space and loading zones. 

WMATA hopes to replace the streetcar services with the Gold Line, a bus rapid transit that connects Union Station to the new RFK Stadium. The proposed route would establish 鈥�dedicated bus lanes running down the center of the street,鈥� according to WMATA’s . WMATA aims to improve access for H Street residents, increase visibility for businesses, and improve safety. 

Coppage said he agrees with the goals of the Gold Line, adding that he hopes to activate the community through beautifying the area and enabling community outreach to the homeless and other vulnerable populations.  

However, some businesses argue that the Gold Line will not improve accessibility.   

鈥淧eople are going to pull out of the Atlas because it’s going to be so hard to get here,鈥� said Jarrod Bennet, a board member of the Greater H Street BID Association and executive director of the Atlas. He said he hopes to collect data from Atlas patrons and local residents through polls to understand how they use transportation in the H Street area and use that data to advocate for residents through the BID. 

Coppage said the Greater H Street BID Association hopes to have the BID up and running in the next 12-18 months. The petition requires support of owners representing 51% of the value in H Street commercial property, and 26% of individual property owners. Many businesses lease their properties, and while the support may come from the building owners, the cost of the BID assessment may ultimately be passed on to tenants through their lease. 

Some businesses are concerned about the tax increase the BID could demand, said Coppage. He said that BIDs are a double-edged sword.  

Business owners who are struggling to afford the tax increase presumably need more business, and Coppage said he hopes the BID can help with that. 

鈥淒on鈥檛 get too far away from the voice of your customers,鈥� said Mt. Vernon BID President Kenyattah Robinson. 鈥淚f you deliver on what people want and need, chances are you are going to be very successful.鈥�