Being born and raised in Gary, I, like many others, was a little skeptical about the city’s announcement of its partnership with the University of Notre Dame’s School of Architecture to develop a plan for downtown revitalization. And after attending one session dedicated to exercises to engage stakeholder voices and experiences followed by another presenting parts of the plan, I walk away even more skeptical — like others, I’m sure. But that doesn’t shake my commitment to ensuring the city and its leadership do not return to business as usual.
As our partners at Notre Dame pack up to return to South Bend, where they will prepare a final master plan that will be provided to the city in a few months, the questions are clear: How does the plan get implemented? How do residents benefit and remain informed on the plan’s development and implementation?
As someone who previously worked in the Chicago Department of Planning and Development on the We Will Chicago citywide framework and currently is employed by Cook County’s Department of Planning and Development, developing a plan for a community’s economic and physical development is something I enjoy and am passionate about. My excitement is all the more in this case, since Gary is my hometown.
However, Gary’s history isn’t encouraging. Many mayors and administrations have developed plans, invested time and money in these processes, and plans ultimately were never realized. How do we avoid a repeat with this new revitalization plan for downtown Gary? I believe it will start and end with the residents.
I believe one of the first things the city, specifically Mayor Eddie Melton and Executive Director of Redevelopment Christopher Harris, must do is make a firm public commitment to Gary first. It is great to plan and reimagine a revived and rejuvenated downtown Gary, but none of it will mean anything if the residents are not prioritized. Melton and his administration must firmly commit to the public that outside interests and investors will not trump the best interests of people who have long called Gary home.
Some ways the administration could demonstrate this is by developing a Gary Land Bank. This land bank could be leveraged for a plethora of positive community benefits such as preventing displacement, stabilizing neighborhoods, decreasing municipal service costs, as well as streamlining development processes for potential developers and investors. Most importantly, the land bank can prevent outside-investor purchases of city-owned properties and prioritize such properties’ availability to residents. This land bank can be an innovative way of educating residents in how to become property owners. A great example of this is looking at any of the several land banks in New York, which have reversed vacancy, stabilized neighborhoods and combated disinvestment, and, most importantly, prioritized local vision, engagement and participation.
Another opportunity the city can explore is developing a funding program to incentivize resident-led development. This kind of program — involving corporate partners, funding from the city and contributions from local businesses — can provide citizens with access to low-barrier loans, capital and grants. These grants can then go toward development costs, business startups and other initiatives to spur community economic development.
This program can also serve as a capacity-building tool, helping to educate, mobilize and engage citizens in development discussions, as well as promoting business and economic development of the city of Gary. This program should be administered separately from city government; instead, a community board of stakeholders who uphold the mission and vision in the best interests of Gary residents should be in charge.
Another opportunity the city has is to ensure that in pursuing new outside investments, deals are structured with inherent benefits to the residents. Large corporate entities, or even real estate investors, should not be able to enter the city without committing to positive social and economic impact. The city must also create an accountability mechanism that provides a system of checks and balances.
Finally, Gary must stop the brain drain and leverage the unique talents and experiences of natives who have left the city in pursuit of better opportunities. A program fashioned specifically to encourage the return of innovative Gary natives is important. The program should seek to leverage their experiences and expertise to promote economic investment and growth, and social advancement for the city.
The Gary of tomorrow is dependent on the collective action of everyone and will require innovation, creativity and most importantly accountability and follow-through. Ignited by the passion and creativity of my fellow Gary natives who participated in the first stages over the past two weeks of the Notre Dame initiative, we will achieve the Gary of tomorrow by ensuring that we do not return to the business of yesterday.
David Collier King is the CEO and founder of New Frontier Ventures and Keep Moving Forward Social Enterprises, which is focused on the community-driven and focused revitalization of Black communities. He is a native of Gary and current Bronzeville resident on Chicago’s South Side.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
