What can be done to improve Gary? (build, rebuild)

[skyeINIL]

http://www.city-data.com/forum/north...rove-gary.html

[Mustang219]

[SIZE=2]I believe it is only a matter of time until Gary is completely redeveloped. Due to the close proximity to Chicago, vast lakefront, and rising costs of living in Illinois, the city will begin to see an increase in developer interest within the next few years. In an ideal situation, I have a few ideas for what could be done to improve Gary.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=2]As previously mentioned, the first goal should be to hire a city planner to create an overall plan for the city - much like when Chicago hired a city planner after the Chicago fire. This will help to bring quality, well-designed, out of the box redevelopment to the city. The second goal for the city should then be to greatly increase the police force to hopefully provide a safer area. Once the larger police force is in place, the city needs to begin to clear the land and advertise their strategic plan to national developers to generate interest and buy-in. In order to get developers to invest in the city, the Leadership need to provide a clean slate of land as well as some level of confidence that developer investments will be protected by better police protection throughout the city. Video surveilance similar to Chicago could also be explored to help protect neighborhoods up and coming neighborhoods. [/SIZE]
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[SIZE=2]Because of the current lack of quality public school systems, I think the younger generations without children should be the first target to attract to the city. Therefore, Gary should start by creating a small neighborhood with bars, restaurants, retail, and condos within close proximity to the lake and to 80/94 - probably near Miller Beach. This will provide easy access to Chicago and hopefully draw young professionals from Chicago to Gary. I would start redeveloping at this northern point and move my way south as more space is needed and more residents move to the city. This would be the fastest and easiest way to begin the process of adding population to the city. The lakefront redevelopment should include marinas, parks, beaches, walking trails, etc. to promote a unique quality of life for Indiana. [/SIZE]
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[SIZE=2]While redeveloping the norther portion, the city Leadership also needs to bring completely new, unique, and clean industries to Gary. Perhaps they could utilize the winds off of Lake Michigan to bring the wind energy industry to the city (possibly sell to NIPSCO?), expand upon the biotechnology research at IUN, or focus on bringing technology labs to the city with tax incentives. This will also help attract fresh talent and people to the city from around the country. Where there are good, quality jobs - there are good, quality people. As the city gradually rebuils, I think tourism would also be a valuable industry to promote within the city. As the lakefront is cleaned up and more retail is built, the city should really try to invest in events to bring tourists to the city to spend their money. I like the idea of a Cubs vs. White Sox game previously mentioned, or perhaps an annual Venetian Boat Show, National Conventions, festivals, museums, a lakefront amusement park, trade shows, etc. should all be explored to gain as much positive publicity for the city as possible. The airport should also be expanded along with the new industries to provide a convenient entry/exit to the city for visitors and residents. [/SIZE]
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[SIZE=2]As confidence increases in the city, the redevelopment should continue to push south. Major parts of downtown should be bulldozed and historic buildings can be rehabbed and converted to retail, hotel, and residential properties. New neighborhoods with new names should replace vacant, abandoned neighborhoods of the past. Also, the services, hotel, and retail will begin to naturally follow but should not be a staple in the city economy. The goal would be to promote a well-rounded economy which doesn't have all its eggs in one basket and has a good variety of high paying jobs. [/SIZE]
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[SIZE=2]The school systems will also need a complete overhaul. If families are to move to the city, quality education is a must. Therefore, begin actively seeking grants and federal dollars to provide top-notch curriculum and facilities to the youth. Recruitment of new teachers is a must since the current systems seems to be lagging. To help attract teachers, higher salaries will probably be needed which will need to be funded from the growing tax base resulting from the redevelopment. [/SIZE]
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[SIZE=2]The city will also need to undergo huge environment cleanup efforts. There has got to be so much pollution from the mills and decay that will need to be cleaned up. I am not an advocate for moving the mills but I am an advocate of the mills helping to pay for the cleanup. Abandoned mills should be demolished and the current mills need to adopt stricter air quality standards and adopt the use of alternative energy where possible. Maybe the city could serve as a site to conduct environmental studies and alternative clean up methods to make it an example for other rust cities. Hopefully, this would also generate additional jobs and maybe the EPA would build permanent offices in the city as well. [/SIZE]
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[SIZE=2]Lastly, the effects of the redevelopment would certainly push much of the current population away (much like the South Loop in Chicago). I believe there are two efforts which would be needed to help the current residents. The first would be to provide an array of city programs to help the residents get basic life skills needed to function and qualify for entry level jobs (or better), treat addiction, provide after school programs, etc. The second effort would be to bulldoze all government housing and relocate it elsewhere - prefereably not in Lake County. Combined, these efforts would help those who want help and push out those who don't which would hopefully further reduce crime. The goal is to improve Gary but not flush the same problems of Gary into surrounding towns. [/SIZE]
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[SIZE=2]That's my two cents for an ideal solution but only time will tell the future of Gary. [/SIZE]

[ScranBarre]

Perhaps domergurl or another moderator can merge this thread into the other nearly identical one to help de-clutter the sub-forum?

[domergurl]

Your wish is my command

Your humble mod

[RegionAire]

...but a good start would be to do what Youngstown, Ohio did. They stopped trying to find tennants for vacant property and permanantly cleared all the abandoned buildings away and rezoned. The result, as I understand it, is a lot more open space that takes away cover for drugs and gangs. Sort of a purposeful urban contraction instead of pursuing growth.

2 Cents though: As far as "the mills" are concerned, USS is not going anywhere. It is one of the largest integrated steel plants in the workd and any talk of "moving" it is pure nonsense. YOu might as well talk about "moving" Gary. USS is a valuable going concern and should be looked at as value adding, not a detraction. No, I don't work there.

[Nysee53]

Here is my plan,"The Gary Plan"

First Gary must elect a good trustworthy government. It can be made up of outsiders, but Gary will want to elect people to the government whose primary concerns are about real estate, schools, crime, etc. This will help it getting the ball rolling.

The new government should cut spending as much as it can and keep school funding, police funding, etc. to a minimum, and invest heavily into advertisment. It might be wise for Gary to break up as a city and separate into smaller villages or cities, but I would like Gary to be a second city to Chicago. Gary should rebrand itself, and force residents to get involved in the community.

Gary could start a program that would allow homeowners to obtain low-interest loans to remodel their homes. Cleveland, OH has a similar program that is managed by Key Bank.

Gary could try to attract small businesses, as well as large ones to come set up shop in Gary. This will make more jobs as well as attracted proffesionals.

Gary should hire DPZ, who designed many New Urbanism projects to totally re-evaluate Gary and set up phases in which new homes, remodeled, new business districts, etc will be set up.

Gary's vitality will also help the surrounding communities of Merrilville, Schererville, Munster, Hammond, Crown Point, and Whiting expand. These communities could also potentially team up to make a larger difference.

[ZivaMJ]

Hello peopla. We're planning a trip to LA for next June 25th regardinf the aniversary of Michael Jacksons death () but that after a one-day stop in Chicago to visit his childhood house in Gary...now, after reading almost all threads here and information in internet about how dangerous is Gary, what I want to know is if his house is if 2300 Jackson St in one of the worst part os Gary or is pretty safe to drive there. I've been a huge fan of him all my life and I'd love to see the house where he was born. What do you think?

Thanks you so much and sorry if this is not the right place to put this message.

[Capt. Dan]

Hardly worth the risk. The house isnt exactly Graceland.

[css9450]

Originally Posted by ZivaMJ

... but that after a one-day stop in Chicago to visit his childhood house in Gary...now, after reading almost all threads here and information in internet about how dangerous is Gary, what I want to know is if his house is if 2300 Jackson St in one of the worst part os Gary or is pretty safe to drive there.

I wouldn't worry about the neighborhood; its not the city's best but its far from being the worst either. Its a quiet neighborhood. There have been souvenir-sellers there pretty much continuously since Michael died, but I'd be surprised if they're still there next summer, with the possible exception of the anniversary of his death. By the way, you won't be able to go inside the house. Its a very tiny house, by the way!

[ZivaMJ]

Thank you Css9450! and hell yeah, i've seen the house in photos and videos and it's really really small, can't believe 11 people once lived there! LOL and well, i assume i wont be able to go inside it since it's not a museum, but i just need to see where the magic was born, don't care about the souvenirs, and don't care if it isn't Neverland or Graceland, like Capt.Dan said above, but it's MJ childhood house, and that's enough for me