Posted by tired on December 20, 2014, 12:47 pm, in reply to "GC Truth Continued"
All interesting points made. Let's start at the begining. Business 101. Supply and Demand. If there is little demand, prices go down. Real estate included. The number one problem we have in Granite is the severe pollution from the steel mill. I have called the EPA more than a few times over the emissions from the new coke plant (which was supposed to have state of the art emission controls). The EPA told me the new plant is NOT in compliance and WILL NOT be in compliance untill 2016! The smell, along with the amount of dirt and dust that blows off the lots (trees and grass along Edwardsville road would help tremendously), onto the neighboring properties and cars makes them almost impossible to keep clean. The NUMBER ONE reason people do not want to locate here IS THE POLLUTION!. Given that, when real estate prices fall, it opens up the market to people of lower income. Hence the situation we have now. That takes us to reason NUMBER 2. "Granite is run down". The city has selectively enforced ordinances for years! Some people, it seems, can do no wrong. We went to the movies downtown the other night and right across the street is that slum funeral home that has been falling down for decades! I have NEVER seen a red tag on the door. You can even see it from City Hall. That kind of stuff is why we have decline in town. Number 3? Make the process for small businesses easier. We WANT and NEED small business! The amount of paperwork and hoops that we make folks jump through for the 'privilege' to locate here is killing us! Investors can and will go somewhere else! Unfortunatly, when someone has a bad experience with a business or a product, they will tell 40 other people on average as opposed to 5 or 10 when they have a good experience. Same for investors. ---Just my two cents worth.