Measuring Success: Key Metrics Every Downtown District Should Track

Downtown districts do so much more than most people realize. You're not just managing streets and sidewalks. You're shaping how people experience a place, how it feels to spend a lunch break, open a small business, or bring friends or family to a weekend event. This work requires coordination, creativity, and a great deal of heart.

But with so much happening at once, it’s easy to lose track of what’s working and where things could use more attention. That’s where tracking the right data comes in. Not for the sake of generating more reports or paperwork, but to provide you with a clear picture of how your efforts are adding up over time.

Let’s walk through some of the most helpful metrics you should be tracking and why.

Business Openings and Closures

A lot of districts pay close attention to what’s opening and what’s closing, and for good reason. When new businesses open and become fixtures in the community, this is a good indication that the overall energy is active and welcoming. Consecutive closings may warrant a closer examination of the contributing factors and underlying elements that affect the overall business environment.

Keeping track of these changes helps you stay informed and up to date. You’re not guessing or relying on word of mouth. Instead, you can clearly see what’s happening in real time and respond in ways that support the local business community.

Pro Tip: Check in with your businesses each year to see how many jobs they support. This is a great way to get a clearer picture of your district’s economic strength and vitality.

Assessment Values

Assessment values can show how your district is faring over time. Keeping a close eye on these values is not only important for the health of the community but also for your overall organizational budget. Do you have a good sense, year over year, of how your property values are trending? Can you prove this definitively, or is it just a ‘feeling’ or a ‘sense’ of the number?

This kind of information is critical for budget planning or when making your needs case to city partners or board members. Having this information in hand makes these conversations easier and provides indisputable clarity about the direction of your district.

Pro Tip: Select a cross-section, or an ‘index’, of properties in your district to track assessment values year over year and keep a trend line graphic on your CRM dashboard, making it easy to visualize and access for reporting.

Property and Business Owner Contacts

It’s amazing how much time is spent hunting down contacts. It’s something we hear repeatedly – important contact information is difficult to find, share organization-wide, and keep updated across departments. Much of this information resides in a single employee’s mobile phone, personal email, or desktop file. Even if it’s a shared file, which one is it? (The FINAL final version?) Whether you’re a business owner, a property manager, or a key stakeholder involved in a project, having the right contact information for the right person easily accessible can save you a significant amount of time and stress.

When districts use a centralized CRM to keep this info up to date and are committed to consistent data hygiene habits, individuals save a remarkable amount of time finding what they need. They don’t have to dig through countless spreadsheets, chat or text a colleague, or second-guess the dated information they have. Everything’s in one place, ready when it’s needed. This time-saving process can be a lifesaver when you're organizing an event, on a deadline, sending out updates, or responding to an urgent concern.

Pro Tip: If you’re using District360 (or another version of Salesforce), get a plugin for your Outlook or Gmail. This way, you can log any new contacts directly from your email and associate them with businesses, properties, etc in your CRM. This simple shortcut enables you to add new contacts, update contact information, and more, all without leaving your email.

If you're not sure where to start or which option might be the best fit for your team, that’s completely okay. We’re happy to help you figure it out. You can always contact us, and we’ll direct you to the right resources.

Events, Memberships, and Community Involvement

Placemaking events bring people together. They shape the character of your district. And they take a lot of planning. By tracking the number of attendees, identifying which events receive the best turnout, surveying participants, and recording how members of your community are engaging, you gain a clearer sense of what’s working.

Collecting feedback and data helps ensure that real insights drive your decisions and prevent you from taking actions solely for the sake of doing them. Real information allows you to transition from ad hoc placemaking to strategic efforts that truly benefit your district, build community, and satisfy stakeholders.

Pro Tip: Survey event-goers at the event only using QR codes that are deactivated when the event ends (this prevents the ‘hijacking’ of your survey). Collecting both qualitative and quantitative data will enable you to convey the impact of your event more holistically.

Field Work and Street-Level Impact

Much of the work that makes a downtown area feel safe and welcoming occurs quietly, day after day. Cleanups, outreach, and addressing minor issues before they escalate into major problems. That effort deserves to be recognized and adequately communicated to your stakeholders.

Here are a few things districts often measure when it comes to field work:

• The number of cases or service requests that were handled over a defined period of time
• How quickly cases are resolved
• Amount of unauthorized signage (like graffiti or stickers) removed
• Amount of trash or waste was cleaned up / number of garbage bags used over a defined period of time
• Number of connections made with unhoused individuals or other service referrals
• Number of and types of safety concerns addressed over a defined period of time

These numbers aren’t just about keeping score. They provide a definitive picture of the hard work your team performs over time. And when you're able to share them with your Board, business owners, and other community members, it goes a long way in helping them understand the value of the work your team is doing.

Pro Tip: Ambassador Route Tracking enables ops teams to view the routes serviced by team members daily by tracking their movements while they are on the job. This allows you to assure businesses and other stakeholders that you are servicing their block and to identify areas that might be overlooked.

Every District Tracks a Bit Differently

There’s no one right way to measure the value of your impact. Some districts focus more on economic growth. Others on placemaking and events. And others on the safety and cleanliness of the district. However, the most important thing is to identify the metrics that align with your strategic vision and tactical priorities, track them in a manner that’s both simple and useful, and communicate them in a way that's easily understood. A metrics-focused mindset helps you stay aligned with your goals, clearly communicate your decisions, and make meaningful adjustments when needed. It also builds accountability, tracks progress over time, and strengthens your case for funding or support.

District360: A CRM That Supports the Work You’re Already Doing

A CRM isn’t there to replace your knowledge or tell you what to care about. It’s just there to help you keep you and your data organized, spot trends, communicate value, and make the most of your time. And when your CRM is built specifically for downtown districts, it fits the way you work, not the other way around.

At District360, we’ve worked in the industry and spent time listening to district leaders, field teams, and city partners. We’ve built a system to match what you told us you need. And we keep listening and building and improving the District360 product lineup (keep an eye out for AI-powered reporting, events management capabilities, and UI/UX updates!).

If you’re curious about how other districts are tracking their work or just want to see if a tool like District360 could help you wrangle your data, reach out to us to learn more.