Let's give the Downstate Illinois thread a shot in the arm...
Decatur, IL is a victim of the down economy, losing 20,000 in population within the past 10 years. The downtown is full of empty buildings and the urban population has a poverty rate near 20%. If it weren't for ADM, Tate and Lyle, and Caterpiller, the city may literally die.

Growing up in nearby Mt. Zion (see my upcoming thread about Mt. Zion's explosion in terms of development and population) I have fond memories of Decatur. Unfortunately much of the downtown area and surrounding infrastructure has become outdated. So much to my excitement, Decatur has announced some streetscape improvements to better the downtown area as well as some of the key entry points to the city.

http://www.ci.decatur.il.us/webfeatures/feature2.html

Also, the downtown square is being redeveloped in an attempt to breathe some new life into it's economy. The transfer house has gone under much needed repair and there are talks about turning it into a visitors information center.


Some new buildings have also been built, such as the new Downtown Transit Center
as well as a new construction firm headquarters (I can't find a picture online, but I'll take some pics next week when I go back to visit).

The infamous Decatur Celebration is also in trouble as financial worries may cause the largest street festival in Illinois to either downsize, charge for admission, or end all together. 22 square blocks of downtown become host to 20 plus entertainment stages, hundreds of vendors and over 250,000 people each August.

Overall, I'll be posting improvements to Decatur once they happen. Let's try to get excited for Central Illinois again!

I love Central Illinois! However, I am much more familiar with Springfield, Peoria, and Bloomington than I am with either Decatur or Champaign. Of course, Decatur and Champaign are on two opposite sides of the spectrum. Decatur has been suffering so hopefully a few minor projects will give the city a boost to at least begin a rebirth.

Two new and exciting projects for the Decatur area:

First the smaller...St. Mary's Hospital is about to break ground on a brand new Trauma Center.
Story from the Herald-Review: http://www.herald-review.com/business/l ... 5b714.html
St. Mary's webpage about the new center: http://www.stmarys-hospital.com/Service ... aking.aspx

Next...and this is the big one...is the entire redevelopment of Lake Decatur!
The city plans to rework all the park and city owned land on and near the lake to make it a "prime destination" in Illinois. Official Website can be found here: http://www.decaturslakefront.com/

The website has ALL the information about the project, including 3 different plans with renderings!

Unfortunately, the only way Decatur's economy will bounce back is if companies such as Tate and Lyle, ADM, or Caterpillar expand to incorporate all the abandoned office buildings downtown.

Decatur has a rather large manufacturing and processing sector, but the entire economy is based on these large companies. From the large poverty rate to the virtually empty buildings downtown, unless another company sets up downtown, Decatur is on a very slippery slope.

All I'm asking for is Monsanto to relocate it's headquarters to Decatur and possibly one or two up and coming Bioenergy companies such as Coskata, Sapphire, or Amyris to relocate as well......a few new mixed office tower developments downtown, and the poverty line to sneak under 12%. Ok, I'm day dreaming now...

Chaifetz10 wrote:All I'm asking for is Monsanto to relocate it's headquarters to Decatur and possibly one or two up and coming Bioenergy companies such as Coskata, Sapphire, or Amyris to relocate as well......a few new mixed office tower developments downtown, and the poverty line to sneak under 12%. Ok, I'm day dreaming now...

Unfortunately, I think it more likely that Cat closes up shop in Decatur and relocates either out of the country or back to Peoria. In a sad state, agglomeration in big cities is the norm these days.