Will West Racine See The Next TIF?

From the Racine Journal Times 3/25/17 http://journaltimes.com/business/local/west-racine-struggles-with-storefront-vacancies/article_3c784ccf-b068-5542-bf1c-047a317595da.html

 

…“There’s more empty stores than ever,” Bob Barina, owner of Bob’s on Washington, said bluntly. And he should know: Barina has had his shop at 3213 Washington Ave. for 53 years.

When Nelson’s closes, that block alone will be five vacant storefronts there — six if one includes the former Piggly Wiggly which has a Grove Avenue address but faces Washington Avenue” …

True West Racine the last true neighborhood is now well as I call a dead area with little if anything to bring anyone to shop.

There is a CVS, a Diner, a few other shops far more then say downtown but not the place it once was.

Some say that its because the full line grocery closed years ago, some that the parking meters scare visitors off, that the Farmer’s Market that Mayor John Dicker hated that once was a jumping place left, to me all the above combined ended this area.

I need to add here here that the Paper did not cover the efforts of Copy Cat Music to bring visitors to West Racine for years at the owner’s own expense nor what I saw as little buy in to events like the Art Walks to bring attention to West Racine.

Well now they do not need to that anymore I can recall the last Art walk or like event, can you?

The question now is what will the City do?

I think I know from the same story

… “Another big problem, Sopczak said, goes back to the Piggly Wiggly grocery store closing many years ago.

“We’ve all seen the eyesore that’s been in place since the Pig moved out,” he said. And the building’s out-of-state owner has shown no particular urgency about filling it, Sopczak observed.

That means West Racine lacks a large destination business to help support smaller ones, he said. “There’s no dominant business to drive people in on a daily basis.”..”

Cant guess let me tell you

1. the City calls the old Pig store a blight
2. with a roof from  the looks of it leaks the city gets a repair or raze order
3. The Building comes down forcing the CVS to move or the owner sells to the City
4. The City helps form a group perhaps the same group that runs the Uptown plan to do a study.
5. This group comes up with a plan to form a TIF to pay for revitalizing the area and attracting business to include a bar to bring folks to West Racine
6. This will also include an ask for a light rail to bring in the rich from Chicago who we are told bag beg our mayor for a way to shop in Racine

Best the two aldermen from this area are hard core Dickert backers as is  Jim Spangenberg who sits on the Racine Redevelopment Authority and loves Dickert’s idea of an Arena

Of course West Racine just like Downtown just like Uptown and the whole city will continue to fester but do not worry Dickers pals will make good money! \

Maybe Doug Nickleson who also sits on the RDA who loves the arena can be talked into opening yet another bar!