Shopkeepers and shoppers, landlords and tenants, are all willing to pay to have their problems solved - but only their problems. They have a collective interest, and the district is the necessary tool for them to take collective action. The district lets Center City interests pay for and receive more Center City services. We have a near obsession with the wage and other taxes. But the district is overwhelming evidence that at least some people are willing and able to pay significant premiums, on top of their taxes, to have better services.
Some people are willing to pay for more and better local services.
We don't know whether the lesson from the district is that only relatively rich people are willing to pay more or that people are only willing to pay more when they know they'll capture the benefits of their payment. But in either case, it shows that higher services can create as much value as lower taxes. It does sound like the district, and some of its admirable clones, like the University City District. Big politics and big economies were the necessary ingredients for industrialization. But today, the reverse is true.