Posted by formerGCian on January 13, 2019, 11:00 am, in reply to "Is It Too Late?"
Simple answer is you have to make a place a desirable place to live in to make it a successful place.
Living life anywhere in U.S. isn't what it used to be. High tech jobs have replaced manufacturing industries. Manufacturing industries have greatly declined not only in Granite, but the rest of the U.S. Stores close simply because their profit no longer allows them to prosper. Big Box (K-Mart, WalMart, McDonalds, etc. etc.) force local retailers out, and then you're left with little choice. But people obviously only care about saving bucks, so they shop at the big box stores. And too much of the big box stores' merchandise is manufactured in other countries...so there goes more U.S. manufacturing jobs.
So, in order to turn Granite around, you've got to appeal to those involved in high tech related jobs in order to make them want to live in Granite. It turns out that the vast majority of those high tech people prefer an urban environment, have walkable neighborhoods, convenient public transportation (so they can live without cars) and have an appreciation for healthy lifestyle and local produce, and diversity (in essence the way cities functioned before WW2). Granite City (older parts pre WW2) already has all the makings for such a community, but the entire metro St. Louis area lags far, far behind those cities that are booming, and then Granite itself even lags far behind St. Louis. (Alton and Belleville seem to have woken up.) Typical suburban life (which St. Louis still stubbornly clings to) and all it offers are dying. Don't take my word for any of what I've said though, simply...do the research. It'll only be too late for Granite if people don't open their eyes (you're so right about that) and look to how and why successful cites operate. It's easy to complain and good to complain because it shows concern and care. I know likely you, like most of us, personally are powerless to do anything about it, but for those that aren't, not observing what successful cities offer, not doing the research, will only result in failure.
on January 13, 2019, 11:00 am, in reply to "