If you love what Chris Koos has done to Uptown Normal, and all the debt that came with it (currently $80 Million), Hanson is your guy. Meanwhile, pensions aren’t funded and the roads and sewers are crumbling. Note: This group worked with Farr Associates, the same rabid environmentalist planners who expects taxpayers to buy into their green agenda, no matter what it costs.
http://www.downtownbloomington.org/strategy/about-strategy.html
Downtown Bloomington Strategy
About the Strategy
What it is?/Purpose
The goal of the Downtown Strategy is to create a comprehensive “action” guide for the development and redevelopment of Downtown Bloomington. This guide will address parking, transportation, market assessment, form-based zoning, and an implementation strategy. The City of Bloomington and the Downtown Bloomington Association have worked together to bring Farr Associates to Downtown to complete the strategy
Steering Committee (SC)
About the SC
The SC is developed to provide guidance, strategic review and comment throughout the process, assessing the plan’s vision and reach as well as providing guidance and evaluation to Farr Associates in the areas of priority, controversy, and land use conflicts.
Includes:
Josh Mast, State Farm Insurance (Chair)
Ben Hart, Heritage Enterprises
Carl Teichman, Illinois Wesleyan University
Cheryl Gaines, Collaborative Solutions, City Council Member – Town of Normal
Fred Wollrab, Property Owner
John Dirks, District 87 Board
John Hanson, City Council Member – City of Bloomington
Russel Francois, Francois Associates Architects, Downtown Bloomington Association
Stephen Snyder, Developer
Vicki Tilton, Downtown Business Owner
You can form as many committees, study groups, blue ribbon panels, associations etc as you want, but downtown Bloomington will always be a dump. No parking. Old worn buildings. Nothing the modern consumer really wants or needs to buy. Far away from where residents with disposable income acutally live. Except for bars,nothing thrives there and no amout of money short of billions and a total tear-down will make it any different.
I wouldn’t say total tear-down too loud. That’s how Normal got $80 million in debt. Of course, Bloomington is already in a lot of debt, so they won’t have the money to do anything about it.
Normal did some tear down, but not a total tear down. Mostly funded by the citizens of Normal, state and federal taxpayers, the big teardown did happen. Outside of that much of the old downtown buildings in Normal, revitalized their store fronts, and more trees were planted. It looks nice, but the cost in the middle of a crap economy was foolish. The $80 million is an undue burden to the town. Vote the incumbents out or look for more foolish spending.
The names on the above SC are strong proponents of what they are charged with studying. As usual, the fix is in. Sickening.