The Earth has Tilted....

Considering on this blog I have been mostly an ass and I tend to point out the negatives in Peoria as I see them, I have had time to ponder my blog over the long winter we just had. 

First, let me say this about Peoria.  I was born here and except for a brief period in my life, I have lived here most of it.  When I hear outsiders criticize Peoria, I stand up for my hometown.  I believe Peorians only have the right to criticize ourselves for what we do or do not do with our city. When an a person who has never been here berates our city, I am one of the loudest to set them straight.  When I lived in Hawaii, it was nice but I couldn't wait to get home to Peoria after a few years.  Yes even with the crappy winters and lousy weather.  We do have some nice days.  Ever get a rush going home to Peoria after being gone awhile and entering on I74 West and coming around that curve and seeing our skyline?  I have.

Do we have problems here? Yes. Do we have problems with our schools? Yes. Do have have crime? Yes. We have always had problems in those areas.  I remember the late 70s and early 80s.  Those were some hard times for Peoria.  Did we disappear from the map? No.  We had a bad housing market, loss of blue collar jobs and with that unemployment was high.  We endured. We are still here and will be in the future.

Do our schools completely fail our kids? No, thousands have gone through District 150 and have been quite successful in life yet we dwell on those, the less than 10% that cause the problems or bring a gun to school or sell drugs.  These things aren't new to any school district anywhere.  Could we use more police? Yes, what city couldn't?  Is our fire department under staffed?  Depends on who you talk to, but we have a quality department none the less. If I have a fire, I know they will be there.

Problems come and then they are solved and other problems develop.  We need to use local people who have a vested interested in seeing our city succeed to solve these new problems as they arise.  We don't need to look to outsiders who make their living bouncing from city to city for a better contract.  This has failed us for over the last 20 years.  Look back to the old days when Peorians from the business community ran our town.  We grew and we prospered. We need to stop our growth and develop what we have. Instead of annexing a new area so a strip mall can be built and then have someone stand and say; "New tax revenue!" We need to develop our older neighborhoods. Can this be done?  It was tried in the 80s with Southtown. I believe because of the economics at that time, that failed.  I also believe that could be done again for areas like the south end, the east bluff, and the center bluff.  Invest in those areas by removing blighted housing, offering incentives for people to build new homes instead of giving a developer sewers and a new road for a mall.

This will draw jobs and businesses. The kind of jobs needed to buy these homes, buy new cars, and buy appliances.  The person working tables at a restaurant or Blockbuster can't afford new cars, homes, or appliances. We can not survive on a service based job industry.  We need blue collar employment and yes, white collar too.  The powers to be need to see this.  We are nothing more than a mid size city in the middle of Illinois, the heartland of America.  We do not need to compete with Chicago or San Francisco. 

I pick on our city staff (traffic lights for one) and on our city government. I don't like the fact that a few council persons reneged on their promise to do away with the Garbage Fee and I will never let them forget it.  That is why we should all take interest and vote.  I just hope the voters in their districts remember it also. I despair over sidewalks replaced in neighborhoods over and over while some neighborhoods never had them.  On and on....

That said, I do have to admit that when I did follow channels, did some networking and talked to some council people, I got some things done by the city.  The left turn arrow at MLK Dr and Western for one.  Speed limits and stops signs in my neighborhood for another.  When I have called the police, they showed up. So not all is bad. Neighborhood groups all over Peoria, no matter how small, matter.  Even if it is the tiniest quality of life issue, it is an issue important to someone. If it's little steps, then OK. At least steps forward, no matter how little are progress.

Peoria has a lot of positives and that is why I like it here.  I mean I can eat out in downtown Peoria and make it to a movie at the Rave, all the way across town in 15 minutes or less.  We don't have the traffic problems that I see when I am up around Naperville and Fox Valley for work. That is traffic!  It's true we have some crime problems but what city our size doesn't?  No city is going to advertise their crime.  Joliet has it worse than we do as an example.  We have a quality police force and an excellent fire department.  Our street department has it's problems but they try hard and they consist of hard working men and women who work some hard hours. Try driving a snow plow all night away from your family during a storm.  Overall, they do very well considering the huge job they have maintaining our streets and clearing snow.

The people who serve on our city council are also hard working and caring people.  I mean if you think about it, it takes guts to put your name and reputation out there and run for a seat and then to represent those people who live in your district or all the people in an "At Large" seat. Do egos get in the way? Sure they do and they have since the beginning of time.  Spears, Spain, and Sandburg are intelligent and they work hard for all the People of Peoria.  Spain represents what the youngest minds are turning out like and with bright young people like this, our future can be secure.  Spain is a product of District 150 schools. The Mayor, Jim Adris, well, I have written about him and I have criticize him many times.  But ya know, he is a nice guy just trying to steer Peoria. That must be one hell of a burden on his personal life. When I have seen him in public, he has never had a bad word for me.  Always a pleasant "Hello" and will even talk. 

What I am trying to say is, I believe that Peoria has a future and although I disagree with some of the paths our leaders are going down, (the museum) we do live in a wonderful middle American town. If you don't like what you see going on, then get off your ass and chip in.  It's time to be part of a solution and not contribute to the problems.  We have enough of those already. It's time to let Peoria be Peoria. If we do just that, I think our image will change and our city can grow but from within. Why do we always need to feel we need to re-invent the wheel?

This blogging thing, which I thought would help me vent, has wore me out.  I can bitch bitch and bitch some more but that won't change anything except someone's opinion about me. Maybe it's too late....

I hope not...