Case Study: Midtown Association’s Clean and Safe Team Strengthens Sacramento’s Urban Core
March 18th, 2026
Overview
Midtown is one of the most vibrant districts in Sacramento. Home to independent businesses, restaurants, nightlife, arts venues, and major community events, Midtown Association serves more than 100 blocks of the Central City through a Property-Based Improvement District (PBID). A PBID is a public-service partnership in which property owners fund enhanced services to supplement baseline City services in areas with higher demand. These services are guided by a Management District Plan, which operates on a 10-year cycle. The Midtown PBID’s current term is set to conclude this year and begin again in 2027 upon successful renewal of the district.
With dense foot traffic and a high concentration of activity, Midtown also experiences many of the challenges common to active urban districts including homelessness, public safety concerns, litter, graffiti, and illegal dumping. To address these issues proactively, Midtown Association operates the Clean and Safe Program, a dedicated team providing daily safety patrols, cleaning services, business and community outreach, and coordination with city partners. This program exists to meet service demand that exceeds what the City alone can provide to businesses.
Public safety and cleanliness are not just quality-of-life issues, they are core drivers of economic vitality. The Clean and Safe team plays a critical role in supporting Midtown Association’s programming and activation efforts by preparing event spaces, maintaining conditions during peak activity, and ensuring a safe, welcoming environment for visitors. During major events, such as the Midtown Farmers Market or Midtown Second Saturday, public safety incidents are shown to drop to zero during the event window, compared to an average of three incidents on non-programmed days. The Midtown Farmers Market, ranked #1 in California two years in a row, illustrates how well-programmed public spaces increase foot traffic, strengthen community engagement, and support local businesses while simultaneously improving safety conditions. This dynamic demonstrates a powerful principle of urban design: positive, well-supported activity naturally displaces negative activity.
The Challenge
Urban districts with vibrant economies often experience the highest demand for services. In Midtown, this demand spans a wide range of needs including safety response, cleaning, maintenance, business support, and coordination with City systems. Recent data highlights the scale of this demand. According to recent reports from The Sacramento Bee, Midtown recorded 5.2K homelessness-related 311 reports between March 3, 2025 and March 3, 2026, the highest volume of any neighborhood in the city. However, this represents just one component of a broader increase in service needs across the Midtown PBID, including litter removal, graffiti abatement, illegal dumping, and public safety calls.
Since 2017, the start of the current Midtown PBID term, Clean and Safe service calls have increased by 203%, driven by higher visitation, increased economic activity, and growing pressures on public systems. Without consistent intervention, this level of activity could negatively impact business operations, visitor experience, public perception of safety, and overall neighborhood quality of life. Rather than viewing these reports as a sign of decline, Midtown and city leaders recognize them as evidence of a high-visibility, high-activity district requiring efficient and coordinated response systems.
The Clean and Safe Approach
Midtown Association’s Clean and Safe Program acts as a localized urban management system, bridging the gap between community needs and city services. Instead of waiting for problems to escalate, the team focuses on:
- Rapid response to service requests
- Routine safety patrols
- Environmental maintenance
- Homeless outreach and service referrals
- Coordination with city agencies
The implementation of hot spot monitoring helps the Clean and Safe team identify and address locations experiencing persistent issues across Midtown. A location is designated a hot spot after two or more weeks of consistent activity, such as repeated 311 reports, dispatch calls, stakeholder complaints, or visible nuisance conditions. Using internal data systems, city 311 data, service calls to the Sacramento Police Department, and feedback from businesses and property owners, program leaders designate these locations and initiate a coordinated response.
Learn more about Midtown Association’s Clean and Safe Program here:
The Results – Safety
(March 2025-March 2026)
- 3.3K safety logs completed
- 10.1K hot spot safety checks
- 2.8K dispatch calls
- 3.2K homeless support interactions
- 19 trespass notices issued
- 115 abandoned camp clean-ups
- 20 service referrals
- 320 official 311 reports submitted
The Results – Maintenance
(March 2025-March 2026)
- 7.3K maintenance logs completed
- 3.2K dispatch calls
- 4K litter removal
- 871 graffiti removal
- 432 illegal dumping removal
- 301 biohazard cleanups
- 1K pressure washings
- 223 official 311 reports submitted
The total 311 maintenance and safety reports submitted by the Clean and Safe team from March 2025-2026 is 540, approximately 10% of all homelessness-related 311 reports in Midtown. This is significant because it reflects the Clean and Safe program’s role not just in direct service delivery, but in actively managing and coordinating with City systems. By identifying, documenting, and escalating issues, the Clean and Safe team ensures faster response times, improved accountability, and more efficient use of public resources.
Summary
While Midtown records the highest volume of homelessness-related service reports in Sacramento, this reflects the district’s density, visibility, and responsiveness—not decline. Through thousands of proactive interventions, the Clean and Safe team provides a model for modern urban district management.
Since 2017, Midtown Association’s coordinated approach has produced measurable results including:
- 89% of service calls resolved within 1-3 visits
- 10K+ potential 311 requests diverted annually, saving the City an estimated $1M+ per year
- 50% reduction in visible homelessness
- 17% decrease in total crime
- 15% reduction in business-related crime
Additional data from the Clean and Safe program’s broader service delivery model shows sustained improvements in cleanliness, safety and safety perception, plus economic vitality across the PBID since 2017. These outcomes demonstrate how localized response systems can significantly reduce strain on municipal resource while improving public safety and neighborhood conditions.
As Midtown Association approaches the renewal of its PBID term in 2027, these results underscore the importance of continued investment in enhanced services. The Clean and Safe program, alongside event programming and placemaking efforts, demonstrate how proactive, locally managed services can reduce strain on City resources while creating safer, more vibrant neighborhoods.
For more information about Midtown Association’s impact since 201 and details on the upcoming PBID renewal process, visit Impact and Renewal Page here.
Map of the Midtown PBID that is serviced by the Clean and Safe Program:
Learn more at about what it is like to work on the Clean and Safe team here.