How do we attract and retain residents?
The full question, asked by WAND's Alyssa Patrick was:
How do we attract and retain residents in Decatur's urban core, especially neighborhoods that feed into the School District?
This Q/A comes from the Coalition of Neighborhood Organization's City Council Forum writeup.
Karl Coleman
He is staying in this community after getting his college degree, and says that we suffer from "brain drain" when young people leave Decatur.
Says we need to invest in struggling neighborhoods & spend time in them.
He says it will help to get more police officers in our communities, making sure officers "[look] like that community", and making sure somebody is spending "time, energy, and effort there," on behalf of the police department, the city, and the neighborhood.
He says residents need to be involved in these projects, and "that's what we've been doing."
He says the solutions are long term and wants to focus on a "hollistic approach," investing in "the material conditions" of the community, before he got cut off by the timekeeper.
He says these are the things he's "incredibly passionate about" and "this is my life," and encourages attendees to talk to him after the forum.
Dennis Ralph Cooper
Says we need to get all of the agencies together to collaborate on solving Decatur's issues, to make it attractive to people.
He says he left Decatur several times for his job, but always "came back home" because he believes Decatur is a "great place to be," to live, and to raise a family.
He said we need to improve our School Districts, improve our streets, and ensure that we have good paying jobs for people who come here.
He says we need "everyone working together" to make Decatur beautiful and safe, and says we need to "try to get the tax base down".
Lisa Gregory
Reiterates the mayor's words that work has already been started in the neighborhoods, but that it will take a lot more time. She says we've torn down a lot of houses, and that we know who owns these lots in the communities.
She said they've worked with those owners to ensure the city has ownership of contiguous lots in a block, rather than properties "spread out in a shotgun fashion", which allows them to talk to developers about investing in the community.
Lisa Gregory talks about working with the School District, and about a makerspace that is being developed at the library, as well as a commitment from Richland for workforce training accessible through the library, so people don't have to go out to Richland.
She says they have worked with DPS 61 to put together a training to teach students how to make good choices. She says she really thinks that "we are working together."
Pat McDaniel
He says we need to work with developers to build apartments, citing feedback he got from young professionals at a recent Decatur Chamber of Commerce event.
He says we want to keep our young people, including those raising families, in Decatur, but that's difficult because a lot of young parents don't want to send their kids to Decatur Public Schools. He hopes the new board will help with that.
He says it's hard to get young professionals to move to smaller cities like Decatur, because they want to live in large cities. He cites multiple large companies moving their headquarters up to Chicago and mentions doctors wanting to go to big cities for the money. He says he doesn't know the answer for that.
He mentions about property taxes, saying the city raised their's 2.5%, Richland 8%, and says property taxes are driving a lot of people out of Illinois.
He says finding people who "actually want to work" is also a problem, but he was cut off by the time keeper.