77 thoughts on “Is Peoria a sinking ship?”

1. I can’t say I disagree. I am happy to see that someone else out there understands the true problems this City faces and how unfortunate our “solutions” have been.

2. Sad… but true. And nothing will likely change. Seems that we get the same crap no matter who we vote for, at any level of governement.

   I’d move, but, probably couldn’t sell my house anyway…

3. The newer ‘essential services first’ members of the City Council had the chance to make a profound change in our city’s direction. They have essentially blown it. To much compromising. Oddly… I think we need more partisanship. We need a revolution in the direction of this city. Where are the champions? I am sorry but Manning and Van Auken are not being combative or forceful enough. They need to be raking their fellow councilpersons over the coals of public opinion. New Urbanism and Essential Services are the direction this city needs. They are not being embraced fully but rather being compromised away. Compromise in this case is really simply… losing.

   We don’t need more suburban sprawl… not just because sprawl is bad but because you can get the same ho hum sprawl anywhere. Why come to Peoria to get more of the same ho hum suburban dullness? The city needs to differentiate itself. We have a number of great assets that can work to our advantage provided we don’t squander them away. Right now I think we are doin a fine job of continuing to squander them.

   Lets not forget.. the City Council is not the sole problem here. District 150 and the Park District also are highly culpable. Where are the advocates for REAL change in these bodies? There are NONE.

4. We lost our 2d city status mostly to…?

   To the Chicago region. Who couldn’t have seen that 10 years ago. Thanks Maloof for letting the gambling boat depart to East Peoria.

5. The gambling boat would not have made a difference in Peoria’s direction.

6. We have lost real community involvment that brings checks and balances to decisions the City Council passes for new development and quality of life. In the meantime, basic city prinipals and culture get lost. I have asked this question many times: What does the City of Peoria want to be known for? Ask that question, then build a City around it. I’m quite it shouldn’t be “Big Als”. Excellent post.

7. The sinking has been going on a long, long time, kids. I posted this one several weeks ago on my own site, and because only one or two folks ever go there, I believe that Merle Widmer was the only one who read it. I think it speaks a lot more in volumes regarding the actual changes in Peoria. It ain’t just political, you know. It’s social.

   “Two Generations
   That’s all it’s taken, you know. Two generations, even a bit less, to reduce so many parts of Peoria into a simmering, dissheveled (sp), oft times scary mess. One only has to drive through the heart of the South End today, and recall what it was like in 1962, and you might think you were in different part of the world. Sidewalks are cracked, if not gone… houses rarely are kept up… store fronts long since shuttered… buildings torn down… families gone.

   What happened? Poverty, of course. White, black, brown, off-green, it makes no difference. Welfare payments in Illinois were roughly three times what they were in Alabama and the like… many of those folks came north. They brought a different type of life with them. Some families had 15 kids, trying to live in a two bedroom South Side house, fresh off of the Greyhound direct from Mobile. The first family of 15 moved in, the rest of the neighborhood went up for sale in little or no time.

   Those that moved north to work at good paying manufacturing jobs had a good deal for a bit less than one of those generations. The bigwigs and pointy heads of America’s corporations found an easy way to break the unions… send the jobs out of the country. Take the money and run. The hard working people who paid for and built the infrastructure in Central Illinois were sold out by the heavy hitters who didn’t give a damn about them.

   More poverty. The poverty stricken stay because of the welfare payments… because of the fear to move… because… well, just because. And, there are no good paying manufacturing jobs to speak of around here any longer. Those who want to work have little or no choice to raise a family on that salary, usually based on hours worked, not on weeks. The benefits have shrunk to virtually nothing (where benefits still exist), and still the Republicans say we don’t need a universal health plan for those who have no health insurance… never stopping to think that we pay a lot more anyway, at the end of the line for the sick patient… after they’ve declared bankruptcy due to their medical bills.

   It’s a sad state for those on the lower rung… and those on the upper rungs just keep trying to climb higher, laughing all the way up.

   It’s clearly not the Peoria I knew when I was young. I know it can never be what it once was, but it can be better. We need people to step up and address the problems in a proactive way… re-structure ALL of 150, not just Manual. Pump money into the blighted areas… build a rec center to keep kids off of the streets… increase the number of cops, one way or another… raise the taxes if need be, but only after the true fat has been eliminated from the budget.

   It can be done. It needs to be done… now.”

8. I would agree heartily with the fact that there is nothing to keep 20-somethings here in Peoria. My husband and I are planning to move away because of a lot of the reasons listed here. We had hoped that living in the city would allow us to rely more heavily on public transit, but unfortunately the buses do not go where we need to go. There are no bike trails within our neighborhood that do not endanger one’s life. Woefully few green spaces populate the city. Career opportunities are not available for growth or development in our respective fields. There are few places to go after work for us to meet people our age aside from bars. Apart from the Civic center, which is devoid of any sort of character, there is no place to see a good concert. Supporting local businesses means having to drive all over the city to find them, as there are few if any shopping centers that are primarily local business owners (aka not chain stores). Unfortunately, we see a lot of racial tension just in our neighborhood (which we chose for its diversity). Most people our age and demographic see moving to Washington or other wealthy satellite cities as success. For us, suburbia = defeat.

   We could stick it out another five or ten years, but there’s no guarantee that the things that we want in Peoria will show up. Unfortunately, I don’t think we can content ourselves with the status quo, which is what most of the decision-makers seem content with.

9. Prego man does a decent job up to the end. His solutions: “Pump money into the blighted areas… build a rec center to keep kids off of the streets… increase the number of cops, one way or another… raise the taxes if need be,”
   NONSENSE! A ton of money has been poured down the sewer of blighted areas. No amount of money will change things, unless the people there want to change things. We have a “rec center”. We don’t need another drain on the taxpayer. We don’t need to raise taxes and drive more people out. We need to lower taxes. And more cops in and of themselves may make Peoria a police state, but it won’t make this a better community. Some of what’s wrong with Peoria is wrong with the whole country and can’t be solved on a local level. Manufacturing jobs won’t come back until our insane free trade policies are changed on a national level (or Americans are willing to work for “$1 a day” I suppose). Much, however, can be done on a local level if we demand leaders who will put an end to the dictatorship of the power elite, and begin to include everybody. Leaders who understand that just throwing taxpayers’ money down ratholes is not the answer. Raising taxes and spending money is the easiest thing politician can do. It takes no courage or thought at all. Any idiot can do it. We need leaders willing to stick their neck out, think creatively, and use the bully pulpit. Easy? NO. Possible? Open question.

10. As The Mouse said, what’s wrong with Peoria is wrong with the rest of the nation. But the reason has more to do with an entitlement mentality which says we have to keep up with the Jones’ and nothing will be okay until we get what the Jones’ have.

    No offense to Samantha, but a good example of this is the demand for bike trails and green space and the desire to shop at local businesses. “If we don’t get these things, we’ll just up and move away.”

    We must learn to make our own quality of life and not depend on someone else (business, government, etc.) to provide it to us. We must learn to discern necessities and non-necessities. If not, count on more inner-city decay, white flight from failed public schools, a bought-and-paid-for-by developers city council resulting in urban sprawl with virtually no population growth, saturation with retail development (and more empty buildings) and continued efforts to euthanize so-called “old economy” infratructure.

11. “We need to lower taxes.”

    CJ had a graphic on this site showing a steep decline in taxes in the late 80s. When I read that it brought back some conversations I had with people back when I used to manage a local pizza place. Those conversations centers on when the old hoods on the south end, north end, down the hill, went to the hell. Interestingly.. it was the late 80s and early 90s. I remember the late 80s, it was especially fashionable, politically to be a tax cutting politician. Budgets were thrashed statewide. What did those steep cuts get us as a community? More burdens. I don’t know what was cut back then but I can’t help but wonder if we didn’t reap what we sowed.

    So when you call for cutting taxes, careful what you ask for. I would certainly agree we need to better manage what we have. Cutting taxes incrementally isn’t going to make a huge difference for the poor in Peoria.

12. Very well said David. As for taxes, Mahkno, I never said that just “cutting taxes incrementally” would make a huge difference for the poor in Peoria. I said that raising taxes was not the answer. In general high taxes drive people out. If you look at the fastest growing states, they are, for the most part, low tax states. For the most part, high tax states are stagnating. There are anomolies, of course. But in general it’s true. And the local real estate tax is extremely regressive. It’s a barrier to home ownership for the poor. It’s an incentive (not the only one, for sure, but one nonetheless) for the retired to move elsewhere. It raises rents (the landlord pays the tax, you know). It discourages investment, unless you can get the city to give you special breaks, which discriminates against established businesses. I’ve said it before, but real estate taxes are a vestige of a long-gone economic system where wealth was based on real estate ownership. During the 18th. century and before, most everbody derived their livelihood from their land, be it a farm (the majority), or the office or store or inn they lived over or next to. It made sense to tax real estate. Today we sock the retired laborer who owns a small house and the young family trying to get by on what passes for “entry level” wages, who is trying to buy a small house, with higher and higher taxes for rec-plexes, civic centers, gateway buildings, “birth-12th grade school campuses”, and maybe museums, to name just a few, and wonder why neighborhoods deteriorate? Gee, what a mystery. And here’s another mystery to ponder – I always wondered why those who proclaim we need to raise taxes don’t just send the government more money? They’re free to write a check if they think it’s such a great idea for the government to get more money to spend.

13. David — No offense taken. It’s not that any one thing that I listed is a deal-breaker. The things that are keeping us from staying simply aren’t priorities for a lot of Peoria residents that we’ve met.

    For us, being young and relatively new to the area and without many ties (jobs, family, friends) to keep us here makes us (my husband and I) uniquely qualified to see the things that might keep young people from putting down roots here in Peoria. I don’t think it is entitlement that leads us to believe that Peoria isn’t the place for us as much as a desire not to settle somewhere that isn’t a good fit. Peoria may not have the economic and social opportunities it needs to draw young people here and keep them.

    Awhile ago there was an article on msnbc.com about how place plays a bigger role in my generation’s choice of where to live than employment. Often, people of my generation will choose where they want to live before they look for a job, which is a role reversal from previous generations. Making value judgments on that mentality does not change the shift in attitude, but understanding such cultural shifts can help Peoria determine how best to appeal to my demographic. As the saying goes, “knowledge is power.”

14. When you speak generally of “property taxes,” it’s important to realize that there are several taxing bodies, none of whom have control over the others. The city’s portion of the property tax burden is only about 9%. District 150 is nearly 50%. Then there’s the Park District, airport, etc., etc. So when we talk about the city raising property taxes, we’re talking about them raising just their portion. I know it still raises the aggregate amount, but the fact is that the city is going to get their money one way or another. If it’s not through property taxes, then it’s through a so-called “garbage fee.” And if you think that property taxes are more regressive than the garbage fee, you’re crazy.

    In fact, I don’t believe that property taxes are inherently regressive. Yes, if your wages are stagnant or you’re on a fixed income and the value of your property rises (reassessment), there is some regression. But overall, you buy a house that is within your price range, including the ongoing taxes — it’s just like maintenance costs. If you can’t afford to maintain it, then you can’t afford to buy it (although, that hasn’t stopped District 150).

    But suppose we didn’t have any property taxes. Then what? Obviously the city needs to have some money to provide at least the basic services of public works and safety. Where do they get the money? Sales taxes and fees? Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee thinks that the federal government should do away with income taxes in favor of a national sales tax. He believes that would be fairer. But it would mean a sales tax of 23% on everything including food and medicine. Is that not more regressive than the current system? Should we have a similar tax system locally; i.e., should only consumption be taxed? In fact, sales taxes already are the largest single source of income for the city. But if the sales taxes get too high, who’s going to shop in Peoria, and who’s going to want to set up shop in Peoria? Wouldn’t that kill the economy? Sales taxes are already higher here than any of the surrounding communities.

15. I personally am thankful for our low population growth. I liked Peoria better back in the 70’s (pre-civic center).

16. The WORST part is…. ” WE LET THIS HAPPEN! ” We let the business interests determine Our, current and future, state. Meanwhile, past and current, leaders have created a TIF (Tax-Increment Finance) ” industry ” depriving District 150 and city coffers of much needed capital for sustenance and growth. Now, District 150 has to ” beg, borrow, and steal ” from Whatever resources It can in order to fund, late-19th and early-20th century, school replacement.

    I USED to have, SO, much hope by God and Man for Peoria! No longer. Our civic leadership has ruined This, once, great city! Have We no Shame for letting This happen to Our City?

17. Vonster, the issue is that we have low population growth while the city has more than doubled in land mass. The land growth of the city has outstripped the population growth — that’s the problem.

18. Vonster,

    To clarify- it isn’t that population stagnation per say is problematic. I also like the small town feeling of Peoria; however, problems arise when decisions and policies are made based on projected population and economic growth and those projections never materialize.

    Let’s take a look at these projects one by one-

    •The Peoria Civic Center,thirty years ago, was promoted as a downtown revitalization initiative. If you agree one can base vitality on the number of downtown residential and retail businesses then we would say Peoria is definitely a less vital place than it was before the Civic Center was built. The Civic Center simply aggregated entertainment venues allowing for larger and more major attractions to be booked. It has not created what was promised. If you told people back then that in 2008 we would have no retail, struggling hotels, empty sidewalks and fewer restaurants would they have been willing to go along with the proposed Civic Center plan? The answer is most definitely NO. The point is the public was led to believe, and continues to be lead to believe, projects such as these will create tertiary development. Sadly, this is where our civic leaders and city staff fail. They have been ill-equipped to create the climate that allows for business retention and business development. Projects like these have to be well planned and nurtured. We simply not made planning and economic development a priority.
    • The Ball Park is a similar story. Yes, it is a nice small town ball park, but has it created the neighborhood vitality promised? No. The reason is the same as the one I provided for the Civic Center. We haven’t had qualified people in elected leadership positions to make the appropriate decisions and we do not have the depth of experience needed in city departments. .
    • River Front Development- This could be the poster child for squandered potential. The same reason holds true- lack of leadership and qualified city staff.
    • I-74 “Upgrade”- first of all I do not consider this project to be an upgrade. They designed this project based on the projected load increases they expected to see in the tri-county area. Twenty-five years ago when they started the discussions for the “upgrade” those in elected leadership positions believed we would be a much bigger city and they thought big cities need big freeways. Today some of the biggest cities are dismantling their freeways and they are making room for much needed mass transit. We in central Illinois just do not have the visionary leadership we need to become a great little city.

    Ok, so now back to your point about the population. The reason I’m focused on population is because an increase in population indicates we are an attractive place to live. It could be because of good schools, great parks, great scenery, great neighborhoods etc- you get the idea. When cities only grow in geographic footprint and not population that is evidence there is something wrong with the central core.

    More later,
    George

19. The problem with Peoria is presentation. We have always promoted the bad and ugly, partially through the local newspaper and by electing and appointing poor performers. Harley Boswell and George Bean are still running things, even in spirit.

20. There is entitlement on many levels — the power elite to stay in power with a variation on the same plan for the past several decades — farther down the wrong track. Economic entitlement to the developers and the poor — whine and snivel and get their way and give nothing back.

    Devastated — there have been people who have tried to change the insanity — just not enough of a coalition to create a large enough wave of change. The apathy, the sky is falling, I don’t want to be involved because of personal reprocussions — social, work, etc. and the list of other excuses just keeps the same old plan happening like in the movie, Groundhog Day.

    D150 was supposed to have signed off each time the city created a TIF — and if not, then why not? Whatever the plight of D150, running the backdoor play of going to the Peoria Public Building Commission to get funding is wrong no matter what the reasoning. If D150 had a concrete plan that would be successful (just review the entries on this site for education and D150 to get an idea of what could happen) and shopped that plan to the taxpayers, the taxpayers would fund the idea. That method has worked successfully in other communities across the U.S. Instead, D150 takes the easy way out which will probably lead to further regression.

    Our elected officials cave in to special interest groups, lose their nerve and backbone once elected and throw their hands up in the air to say that they are powerless to do anything.

    Mouse is correct — easy answers, feel good solutions that get us nowhere and actually contibute to our regression.

    Four basic principles of raising children:

    (1) How well have they learned to manage feelings and emotions?;
    (2) How well do they manage responsibilities?;
    (3) How well do they manage money?;
    (4) How well do they get along with people?

    Please compare these four principles of childrearing to planning, developing and running a city — what do you have in Peoria? It isn’t a pretty picture at present.

    We herald New Urbanism and at the first juncture — it is compromised away — so, like the boy crying wolf — again.

    Again, mission statement from the bowels of our community — perhaps tough — we need to develop unity in community and a community of unity in 2008.

21. “Today some of the biggest cities are dismantling their freeways and they are making room for much needed mass transit.”

    George, please give examples.

    I know that many cities are having their interstates reconstructed through their downtowns and/or key arteries: Dayton (I-70/I-75 interchange reconstruction and planned work on I-75 downtown, Des Moines (reconstruction of ramps and new bridge on I-235), Indianapolis (add capacity on I-70 between downtown and I-465 east side belt) and Milwaukee (Marquette Interchange) are examples.

    Downtown Peoria and East Peoria traffic keeps the rebuilt I-74 quite busy, and I for one am glad it has been upgraded with more lanes and longer ramps.

22. Mouse, comparing older slow growing cities with generally higher taxes to new fast growing ones with low taxes is not a valid comparison. Everything has low taxes when it is new and on the grow. Watch those communities as they age. Their taxes steadily go up as they get older. Those communities begin develop the same characteristics and problems that people sought to escape from even older communities. The neighboring communities surrounding Peoria have their taxes going up, from what I read in the past (seen nothing recent), the rate of increase is higher than Peoria.

    Who says higher taxes won’t attract people? New York and Chicago both are experiencing an urban renaissance in their cores. That interest in urban living is growing. The people moving there are highly educated savvy individuals who realize that amenities come at a price. I too would be willing to pay higher taxes if I knew the quality of life of where I lived would be improved. It isn’t about throwing money down the drain, I want VALUE for my taxes. Now you might also point out that those who are moving into the city are not normally families. This is somewhat true but is most definitely on the radar of the big city developers. There have been some articles in the Financial Times about these cities working to lure those highly educated savvy individuals who also have families. More parks, better building designs that are more family friendly.

    Taxes don’t push people away. Poor governance does. Poor value for your money push people away.

23. I think George is right on. I even blogged about the downfall of Peoria in the last year.

    Even with little or no population growth, it still does not make sense for continued annexation as the city has trouble making ends meet with what they already have; let alone more taking on more.

    City leadership is weak at best. With exception of a small few, they cave in to the interest of private developers.

    In addition, the poor planning and development that has taken place in this town for the past 20 years now makes it difficult to get around. The city is not pedestrian friendly. Traffic continues to get more cumbersome and heavy as spraw continues. Example – in far north Peoria, it is almost all residential. If someone needs to go to the grocery store, there’s Kroger’s or Wal Mart; simply not enough grocery outlets for the area concerned. Thus more and more people need to get into their cars and drive the same roads as almost everyone else congesting them so they can get their groceries.

    Crime is another problem as drugs and gangs are rapidly taking over neighborhoods. City leadership is not acting fast enough and budgets do not provide enough funding to help. The city is spending all it’s money to subsidize the Civic Center, ball park and hopefully not, the museum.

    Dist. 150 is a train wreck. It is now a failing, substandard school system. Again, there is no leadership in place to provide vision and make tough calls.

    I believe that things need to change, drastically and quickly if this city is ever to get well again. Based upon what has been discussed, who in their right mind would want to locate here if their employement didn’t require it?

24. North Peoria won’t be all residential for long. The rezoning of the corner of Knoxville and Ravenswood to C-1 and the widening of Knoxville to Hickory Grove pretty much guaranteed that. Where it is going to get really ugly is on Allen. There has been a fair amount of rezoning to C-1 but for now they are kind of locked in where the road takes a sharp jog and it quickly turns to residential. If that gets corner gets “fixed”, and the church at the corner of Allen and Wilhelm gets Allen widen like they want (and pledged a million bucks towards), all bets are off. Throw in a new school at the corner of Allen and Hickory Grove (District 323 of course) and there will be no going back. Knoxville/Allen will become the new Knoxville/University. The residential construction will move even farther North and the city of Peoria will continue to chase it in the name of “growth”.

25. All that needs to be done to fix this problem is to annex more land, right? 🙂

    George’s post elludes to this problem. The city of Peoria is physically 2 times the size it was before annexing began (Richwoods Twp) and has less people. That pretty much sums it up.

    If you abandon the core of your city, then the core of your city will be full of problems. It sounds too simple doesn’t it. All one has to do is drive through neighborhoods like the East Bluff and picture what they once were. I used to drive through them quite often and it made me sad.

    Here’s my idea: Stop the annexation. Period. No more. Go back to the old neighborhoods like the East Bluff. Buy up the houses. Demolish 2/3s of the homes. Dissolve and redraw the lot lines such that each lot encompasses what once was 3 lots. Remodel/rebuild homes. Put the focus back on the central neighborhoods. I truly believe that if people could get what they can in the outer neighborhoods (a little larger lot and a new home) they would rather do it closer to their workplace and places of recreation.

    Maybe I am wrong but since the central neighborhoods have gone un-cared-for since the 1960s, it would certainly be a change of direction for the city.

26. George,
    Stay out of my head man..have recently had this type of conversation with a variety of neighborhood and policitcal leaders over the past month. Basically, we have and continue to allow the decay of the central neighborhoods to the detriment of the school district and the businesses. More people on these blogs were uproaring over a trail/rail vs looking at what our leadership planned for the next years budget. No one took an interest in the policies that are shaping our future. When there are projects happing in the blighted areas of town, it’s the same die hards that show up trying to make a difference while the rest of the citizens are off doing other things. When asked to return to these areas to help, comments about being shot, mugged, or that people need to help themselves are made and then insults are hurled as if no one in our areas are worthwhile. The Economic Development concept is being attacked here, yet bloggers are busy bashing Schock in any way possible, yet of the three candidates, he is the only who has spent time actually physically working in these areas and helping those of us who do try with resources. Where have these other fine candidates been? Putting together the Riverfront and pushing for growth economic development to the north. City officials run, but are not held accountable for their campaign promises. Jacob and Ardis are most prominent in our area. Where is the passion for older neighborhoods, where are the essential city services, where is the broken window theory, etc. to quote campaign slogans/promises. Why isn’t this discussion being held at city hall either during the council or setting up a public forum to voice these and other concerns, and most importantly where are the solutions. We have spent a great deal of trouble and effort erradicating a significant number of drug houses in my neighborhood alone. We thank the police, code enforcement and yes on one occasion, zoning, and the efforts of some businesses who have believed and invested in us and hard work from area citizens having to put themselves in the line of fire, sometimes literally to make changes, but we are at the juncture of “now what”. There are no capital improvement funds, there are not positive, hard working people lined up to fill the houses that were emptied. Are any of you going to move here? recommend to someone you know to move here, volunteer here to help with Spring or summer projects to make the area more attractive, help market this area to bring in stable residents who will reinvest money into our very afforable housing stock, let your children attend the local schools and be an involved parent to help turn these schools around to where they were? Will you stand beside us, when we ask for capital improvement projects to make our better. And most importantly will you stand beside other neighborhoods as we help them to do what we are trying to do here. We cannot be successful when we expect and demand our officials to do things we are not willing to do ourselves. I am tired of seeing our resources go up North==and I don’t just mean finances. When we lose good neighbors, it is not the north, it is too other communities. We are bringing in other people and are marketing the new subdivision only…Is the Chamber of Commerce marketing older neighborhoods? Are companies recruiting workers and helping them to relocate to these areas? are Realitors steering people to these affordable areas? Check it out and see for yourself what is happening. I am not buying that the growth up North will pay for resources here. If that theory were accurate there would not have been a proposed property tax increase or the elimination of the asst. City Manager job to pay for any staff increases. That also needs to be looked at closely, no one commented on the bait and switch that occured with that one…again…lots of discussion on rail/trail issues, none on these..I am aware that if we do not recapture these areas that the operating budget will have to continue to skyrocket to pay for more city staff to do what we, as citizens should be doing some things for ourselves. We have city planners who should be devoting time to planning the changes needed in these areas, we have economic developement staff that should be attracting businesses to these areas. We then as citizens need to patronize our local shops businesses so that they can stay here. I am also aware that we will not receive the necessary support and assistance from the ones who complain the loudest on here for change, we will simply be told that if we want the change we should do it on our own. So how praytell, does the proper change occur?

27. Contra Samantha, my husband and I are young educated 20-somethings with no ties to Peoria who came here on purpose. We’ve found it quite easy to meet people our age, and not at bars.

    Economically, for young professionals, we find there are ups and down — no, there’s not nearly as much room to job hop and you can probably actually count your number of potential employers. On the flip side, because it’s a smaller city with smaller employers, you get to take on more responsibility faster and not be just a cog.

    I can walk to just about everything but the grocery store (well, I CAN walk to the grocery store, I just CHOOSE not to because I can’t carry that many groceries that far).

    I will say that District 150 is clearly not an option, in its current state, when/if we have children. Whether that will require us to move out of Peoria, or whether we’ll choose the homeschooling or private school route, I don’t know. (By the same token, I’m very resistant to Dunlapping my hypothetical children, because if you’re going to subject them to a wealthy white suburban enclave, we’d better be talking Winnetka-level public schools, and Dunlap’s aren’t. But then, Dunlap probably isn’t quite the teenaged snobbery horror show the North Shore was either, so I should probably just relax.)

    I’ll also say that while I appreciate the local uses of the Civic Center (I get that you’ve got to have some kind of arena), I wish Peoria would stop pushing itself as a convention city. People go to three kinds of places for conventions: world-class cities like Chicago and New York and San Francisco, warm places like Phoenix, and Vegas. “Come somewhere cold and snowy that almost certainly requires a connecting flight” is simply never going to fly as a convention location.

28. One other thing about annexation – it is likely that had Peoria not doubled its size during the past 40+ years, its population would probably have halved, and communities such as Peoria Heights would have grown in its place.

    So there is a flip side.

    Cities almost completely surrounded by suburbs tend to lose large percentages of their population to “white flight.” Dayton, Ohio for example, once had a population of 262,000, but since the 1960’s has contracted by more than 100,000.

29. Shame on you Eyebrows McGee for making a blanket statement that you could not send your children to a District 150 school. Maybe that is why Peoria is struggling so much — because so many families do not do their homework. My children attended primary and several years of middle school in Peoria in the recent past and our family found the schools to be above or on par with the surrounding area schools. Not all District 150 school are failing. When the time comes you should investigate all the choices, because there are some very good schools to attend within District 150

    BMW

30. CJ, rarely do I get to agree with you on matters, but this one you hit on the mark. I can say with 1st hand knowledge that these past 3 years have been frustrating. Myself, and a group of other young enterprenuers, have tried hard to inject new energy, funds, and vision into our local economy, only to be met with stalemates, loopholes and frustration. Never did I think it would be hard this hard to lend a hand.

    Junction Ventures had donated over 1m dollars into this economy in each of the past 2 years, and looking back I can say that only Project Springboard has been an overwhelming success, largely in part to Bradley’s great enthusiasm for this project.

    All the tools are here for great success, but we are constantly chasing our own tails and making easy decsisions difficult. This is a major reason that we are taking a big step back this year and focusing on our out of State projects and investments. Until we see some change, we will not be venturing into any further investments in our area (sadly).

    My family and I moved here enthusiastically and have commited ourselves to living our life, educating our kids and retiring here, so my disappointment level is high for now.

    What is certain is that our City leadership needs to tighten up and make good decisions that will lead to economic growth. I recently read a statistic that said if we were to not build another home for 5 years, we could accomodate 5 years of incoming population! And yet I see plans for more homes to be built, further alienating our downtown area from chances of success.

    The problem seems to be growing and we may 1 day face serious issues. If CAT ever left, Peoria would be in trouble, and the thought of a new CAT headquarter is not too far fetched. Problems exist in every area of our economy, but solutions exist as well. It is the job of the City to have a clear vision and mission, and work towards achieving those instead of stalling out most every issue that comes to hand.

    There is a small contigency of people that would love to see solid economic growth. People that want it for the good of the City, not only their own pockets. I hope that changes will be made in the future to accomodate constructive vision and growth, but for now I agree with ya.

    Happy new year to everyone.

    AK

31. “communities such as Peoria Heights would have grown in its place.”

    Fine let them assume the long term inefficient burdens that come with sprawl. If Washington, East Peoria, Dunlap, or any other formerly small town wants to sell it self to the sprawling devil then let them. I can laugh in 20 or 30 years if not sooner, when their taxes go higher and or their quality of life sinks. One can just look at the development patterns in California and Florida to see the damage it does.

    As a matter of public policy these communities should resist such endeavors too. Sprawl isn’t just a Peoria issue. It is a County and State issue as well. It could arguably be a National issue too (fuel efficiency, productivity, health, environment).

    Let the side flip.

32. AK I have to agree with you about economic development and the walls that are put up to prevent it in this community. We have been trying for nearly 4 years to get our business up and running and its been one hill or wall after another. We don’t have the budget you do but all the same we have invested just over $200K in our project and we are still not there. This would be a growing business that would employ lots of people over a few years. But that is our problem and in a way its Peoria’s problem too. Peoria is not a user friendly area for up and comers who want to do something besides medtech or something in that range.
    Just blowing off steam.

33. AK: You have donated/spent millions — then consider the vanilla citizen/taxpayer who tries to promote ideas to the elite bluebloods who know everything — any wonder why there is apathy?

    Was it Mayor Allen, AK or someone else who was finalizing the lunch plans?

34. David, it’s not “white flight”. It’s not a racial issue. Professional Blacks, Browns, Yellows, Greens and Purples are all fleeing the crime, taxes, and rot of Peoria (and other similar cities). Most people want the same things in terms of picking where to live: (1) a safe place at a reasonable cost, and (2) a good school for their kids are up at the top. Period. Recplexs, civic centers, etc. (never mind bike trails) are way down on the list for the average person. Yes, Dist. 150 has a couple good schools, and lots of good students, teachers and employees. Overall, though, it isn’t a failing district, it’s a FAILED district. You can argue all you want, but the votes are in. The vast majority of 150 students are “free-or reduced-lunch” and the overall achievement rate is also poor. Parents with any money send their kids to private schools or move to another district. That’s just a fact, like it or not. Older people want the same (1) even more than younger people, and (2) they want easy access to basic services. Public transportation is a big issue if basic services are not “on site”. What is being done to address any of these needs????

35. THE MOUSE Wrote: David, it’s not “white flight”. It’s not a racial issue.

    I know…that’s why I put that in parenthesis, but the term is thrown around generically and I figure it’s understood in that context.

36. Lunch issue. I suggest Friday the 4th at 1 p.m. at Alexis’ restaurant conference room at Junction City but never heard back from anyone on that.

37. “Shame on you Eyebrows McGee for making a blanket statement that you could not send your children to a District 150 school. Maybe that is why Peoria is struggling so much — because so many families do not do their homework.”

    Oh, I’ve done my research. While Washington Gifted is at least an option, the schools I’m bounded in are not. And to be honest, Washington Gifted doesn’t provide the curriculum or enrichment opportunities my own junior high school had for the “regular” kids. I realize my expectations are somewhat skewed and relatively high from having grown up in Districts 28 and 225, but I don’t see any reason to lower my educational expectations just because I don’t live in the Chicago area anymore.

    I feel bad about it, because I know that good schools don’t improve unless good parents send their kids there. On the other hand, it’s one thing to commit your OWN life to improving an area by, say, living within city limits instead of fleeing to the suburbs. It’s an entirely different thing to commit your CHILD’S life to it, if only because they don’t get a say in it, and that isn’t fair.

38. I have friends whose children attend both Whittier and Calvin Coolidge, and both say they are happy with the schools. But both families are also likely moving out of the neighborhood when their children begin High School and I can’t blame them.

39. http://pjstar.com/stories/010308/TRI_BFCU47LQ.061.php

    This article notes Peoria wants to annex 13 acres of land near 10500 N. Knoxville after rezoning 23 acres past 12000 Knoxville last month. Since 12 city blocks equal one mile this was over 10 miles north of 0 N. How much further will Peoria expand north and northwest pursuing a Holy Grail it never finds? The only thing I see possibly slowing this trend is if gas spikes to $5-6/gal.

40. CJ-
    I have been remiss in not thanking you for highlighting my post- so thank you. It certainly has stimulated thought and I think we hit a nerve. It would be refreshing to see some of our elected officials respond.

    Patrick Nichting once told a friend of mine he doesn’t read, so of course I do not expect him to respond. However, I am stumped as to why he wouldn’t jump at the chance to expound on why he is such a proponent of sprawl. I think I have heard him boast of taking either business or economics classes from Bradley. Maybe we could get one of his professors to explain why sprawl is such a good idea if Patrick is shy or embarrassed to write a paragraph or two or better yet let’s hear from the developers. Just a thought…(of course we would especially like to hear from Jacob, Spears, Turner and any of the other City Council members)

    I appreciate hearing from Peoria Heights Mayor, Mark Allen on other topics and at times Peoria City Council Member, Gary Sandburg, is likely to participate. Hasn’t the time has come for politicians to get involved in the on-line conversation? Politicians would have commonly engaged themselves in lively conversation in the old town squares- but alas we have no town square. We only have our seven lane intersections where we wave at one another through the windshields and drive away. Speaking of intersections maybe we could get a word or two from a transportation engineer- because you know they are ultimately the ones to blame for sprawl. 😉

    More later,
    George

41. Wow, if Kazaam is tired then we are in big trouble. Sorry if I misspelled the name.

42. Pingback: Head over to the Chronicle « City without a Subway

43. Eyebrows McGee — thanks for your response. I totally agree that an individual’s children cannot be a social experiment and that is why I think initiatives by the City to entice middle class families into the older, decaying sections of Peoria will fail. My concern is that the City should be focusing on attracting families to the areas of town where schools and neighborhoods are still stable but are beginning to teeter and lose value. I also believe that District 150 is neglectful of its’ higher performing schools and should be doing everything it can to make its’ goods schools better, in order to attract and retain students.

    My children attended Washington Gifted and Kellar Primary. There is a wide range of housing options within the boundaries of Kellar. There is also affordable housing in the Whittier and Northmoor Edision areas, both of which are solid schools. Mark Bills is a good school but perhaps with less range of affordable housing options.

    I understand that you have high educational expectations coming from the Chicago area, however, it is what it is in Central Illinois. Attending Dunlap Schools offers a more homogenous student population and thus higher scholastic performance, but I believe that it presents other social and competitive issues that are equally difficult for families and students to deal with.

    I totally disagree with your assessment of Washington Gifted and its’ curriculum. My children now attend an international school that we were told was “highly competitive.” We discovered after arriving that our children were at least a half grade level ahead of their peers at their new school. I attribute that entirely to their educational experience at Washington.

    I am sorry to have singled you out on this issue. Many of my friends and acquaintances have fled to the “suburbs” of Peoria seeking to escape the terrible schools of Peoria without really investigating. I just wanted to go on record that District 150 really has some strong schools, they just keep this information well hidden — a public relations blunder that I am continually baffled by.

44. EP riverfront hotel opens
    EAST PEORIA – One day in 2001, billionaire hotel owner John Q. Hammons stood in the parking deck of Downtown Peoria’s closed Sears department store, pointed across the Illinois River and asked a companion, “What about there?”

    This pretty much sums up the problem…?
    Talk about a slap in the face!

45. Im still up for as lunch whenever we can get a group together.

    AK

46. Amen, New Vision.

47. “I totally disagree with your assessment of Washington Gifted and its’ curriculum.”

    I don’t think it’s a BAD curriculum; it’s really quite a good school and a good program. But it’s sad to me that the gifted program offers fewer opportunities than the “normal” schools I grew up in. I realize that’s largely an issue of property taxes and inequitable funding. But it’s very difficult for me to reconcile myself — and understandably so, I think; we all want “better” for our children — to the fact that there’s no opportunity in Peoria, not even at the private schools (as far as I have been able to discover), for my hypothetical children to receive the same educational opportunities that I received as a matter of course at a public school.

    My husband mostly went to hyper-nerd private schools, so he’s an even tougher nut to crack. 🙂

48. EP riverfront hotel cost EP taxpayers $25 million. I wonder if they will pay that off as fast as Peoria pays off the Civic Center?

    EP is starting to have many of the problems that Peoria has as that city begins to emulate Peoria

49. I attended Kingman, Glen Oak and Woodruff High School, which I graduated from in 1981. Granted this was 27 years ago (Good Lord), but I never felt that my education was inferior to anyone’s. In the absence of serious dysfunction on the part of the schools, scholastic success if more about the student and what the family expects out of them.

50. “EP riverfront hotel cost EP taxpayers $25 million. I wonder if they will pay that off as fast as Peoria pays off the Civic Center?”

    I don’t know. I thought that one of the perceived problems faced by the Civic Center, and its inability to bring in the convention dollars was the lack of a ‘Civic Center Hotel.’ Hells Bells! That monstrosity across the river is going to be bringing in tons of revenue. It is new, it is big, it is posh……..the list goes on. I am even willing to bet that all of the people who attend major events at the Civic Center are going to be staying in the new East Peoria hotel! Besides, I really don’t see the citizens of EP burning tires in the road because $25 million of the tax payers’ money was used. Trying taxing the good people of Peoria to raise $24 million+ for a ridiculous museum! LA riots nothing!!!!!!!!!!

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