State of the City from Peoria Mayor Rita Ali: Strong, resilient and meeting challenges
This is my first state of the city address, and I’m proud to report that the State of the City of Peoria is strong!
Let me start with the numbers:
The city’s overall revenues are up 15% from 2020.
Overall expenditures are up 7% from 2020
The City of Peoria was able to weather the worst of the pandemic financially!
The City was also the recipient of $47 million in American Rescue Plan Act Funding – a big relief needed to make investments we would not have otherwise been able to make.
And the City’s $60 million capital budget this year is the largest in more than twenty years. The primary investment is in our infrastructure – our roads, sidewalks, smart street lighting, facilities, and equipment.
Peoria, we are resilient!
More in opinion: I'm a former Chicago resident that's happy to be living and playing in Peoria
An article published in January by the Economic Growth Initiative at the George W. Bush Institute reported the five characteristics of cities which rise as centers of prosperity and opportunity:
It should be no surprise that they are places that ensure an emphasis on learning and innovation.
Rising cities are open to newcomers and unorthodox ideas.
They have a favorable environment for commerce.
Offer a good quality of life for their residents.
And have a strong sense of shared community.
Peoria has each of these characteristics – let’s examine them one by one.
First, we are a city with premier institutions of learning and innovation.
Bradley University and its Business and Engineering Convergence Center is just one example. The center integrates civil and construction engineering laboratories with business school facilities, providing among the best of project learning platforms in the nation.
Illinois Central College recently broke ground for its new Workforce Sustainability Center which will expand its offerings of training, across our region, in high demand, well paid career fields.
The University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria produces the largest and most diverse cohorts of physicians in Central Illinois.
The USDA National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research has long been an incubator for innovation – its where Penicillin was successfully commercialized, saving millions of lives.
And the new OSF Healthcare Cancer Institute will be a lighthouse for groundbreaking cancer treatment and cancer research for people all across the world.
We also have an unparalleled library system. In learning and innovation – Peoria gets an A.
The second characteristic of a rising city is to be open to newcomers and unorthodox ideas. We are growing in this area.
A recent housing study showed that Peoria’s warehouse district and downtown areas are becoming big attractions for young people, empty nesters, healthcare professionals, and those wanting to live near the river and urban core amenities.
I have been reading about prospering cities that grew their economies and populations by welcoming immigrants and refugees who worked hard and ultimately prospered and remained in those cities. Today, cities across America and the world are beginning to welcome Ukrainian refugees whose lives have been torn apart because of the war with Russia.
Communities are helping these families to pull their lives back together and to find another home away from home. Many of these refugees bring skills and talents from the daily work they performed in their home country. I would welcome Ukrainian refugee families to Peoria – invite them to fill some of the unfilled jobs we have due to skills gaps; invite them to our places of worship, our social events and our homes.
In our efforts to create a more favorable environment for commerce:
The City recently launched the R.I.S.E. program providing up to $50,000 per company in grant funding for small businesses impacted by the pandemic to support their capital needs.
Another economic driver we are pursuing is passenger rail service from Peoria to Chicago. As part of an IDOT-sponsored feasibility study, a public interest survey was conducted with nearly 95% of 31,200 respondents indicating they would be very likely or somewhat likely to use that service. We will soon share the details of the study and describe the next steps in this process.
The fourth characteristic of a rising city is the offering of a good quality of life for residents.
Peoria’s housing market remains strong, and our city is nationally acclaimed as one of the most affordable places to live in America.
The City’s new home down payment assistance program will provide homebuyers within Qualifying Census Tracts either $5,000 or up to 10% of the purchase price of a single-family home purchase at or below $125,000. This funding is stackable, meaning it can be combined with other programs for residents to obtain up to $11,000 or more for a down payment on their home.
Our new Land Bank was established last year to return properties to productive use in blighted neighborhoods and create opportunities for public and private investment.
There is no good quality of life in a city without good paying jobs.
OSF Healthcare and UnityPoint Health, combined, have grown to become the area’s largest employers and currently have thousands of area job openings.
Caterpillar remains as a stronghold in Peoria employing more than 12,000 people in our region. We don’t expect that to change.
Peoria has many good jobs – waiting for people with the right skills to take them.
Safety is a basic quality of life essential. Police Chief Echevarria has initiated several effective anti-violence initiatives focused on those who commit violent crimes:
A multi-agency directed patrol focused on hot spots resulting in numerous arrests, gun confiscations, and stolen vehicles recovered.
Peoria’s new Police Plus Mental Health Emergency Response Pilot Program will fund mental health counselors responding to 911 domestic situations when the call requires it.
The last characteristic of rising cities is a strong sense of shared community. Peoria, indeed, has this.
We saw it when more than 50 individuals representing 30+ local schools and organizations stepped up last year to say they wanted to be part of the solution to addressing gun violence in Peoria. The Safety Network or S-NET, a system of connected community resources and service providers, will be expanded next month to include residents and neighborhood organizations in hot spot areas throughout the city. The police and the community, working together, is the only way we will sufficiently keep our neighborhoods safe.
Peoria is trending positive in the characteristics of rising cities despite our ever-present challenges. Through bridges of collaboration, Peoria will continue to rise as a Center of Prosperity and Opportunity.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria's State of the City: Strong, resilient and meeting challenges
