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The City Avenue Special Services District represents a unique partnership between the City of Philadelphia and the Township of Lower Merion and between the public and private sectors.  Spanning across both Philadelphia and Lower Merion Townships, the District is the first multi-jurisdictional special services or business improvement district from among over 1,200 districts in North America.

The original concept for the District was developed in the early 1990’s by elected officials in the community.  The founders, then Pennsylvania State Representative, Lita I. Cohen, past Lower Merion Commissioners Jim Ettelson and Joseph Manko, and then Philadelphia City Councilman Michael Nutter worked with property owners, institutional leaders and business leaders in the area to shape the District concept and gather their support. Three key goals in the development of the District were to reduce crime in the City Avenue area; help better shape the direction of development; and to improve the image of the City Avenue area.

Following the development of a five-year plan, the City Avenue Special Services District was incorporated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in mid 1997.  The five-year plan, budget and boundaries of the District were approved by ordinances by the City of Philadelphia and the Township of Lower Merion in late 1998.  The District commenced operations during mid-1999.

The District has received awards from the Pennsylvania Planning Association in 1999 for a Special Community Initiative and a 2001 Pennsylvania Governor’s Award for Local Government Excellence for building community partnerships.