Decline of a City

The other day I visited a northern Illinois city that was once a proud manufacturer of goods sold and traded the world over. They were high technology in their day going back into the first and second world war years. And then peace time in the late 1940’s and all of the 1950’s. These were halcyon years for this city.

In the 1960’s, however, something happened to derail this city and its leadership. They focused on ‘today’ and not tomorrow, I suspect. Their industries continued to hum and the status quo was maintained. They were happy and went out to dinner at nice restaurants and gathering spots with their fat paychecks. Even some entertainment venues happened their way with live music and theater.

But by the 1970’s the happy ride seemed over. Industries were being eclipsed with newer manufacturing plants and techniques in other cities. European competition grew as well but the death knell most likely was the enormous expansion of Asian manufacturing and scientific breakthroughs that revolutionized not only manufacturing methods but also products.

Old products were replaced with new ones that didn’t look at all like the old. Yes, new science and new products swamped the old items and literally replaced them.  You know, like buggy whips no longer have a viable market when everyone is driving a car?

Well, the same thing happened to this town – city, really. The core of its downtown began to go to seed. Building maintenance decreased and vacancy signs sprang up. Fringe areas of manufacturing activity also became less maintained and finally vacant.

Because the area had a core manufacturing base in part with US defense and aerospace industries, these remained long after many other industries bolted their plant doors shut. The residents of the city kept thinking that renewal of their past expertise would one day come but it did not.

Today, the city of 150,000 souls has a downtown of seedy, rundown hotels and specialized housing units. Homeless people walk the street and push their carts and over burdened bicycles down the street. These people populate the coffee shops and fast food outlets looking for bits and pieces of food and beverage so they can face another day and find another resting spot in order to cycle toward yet another day. With or without hope this process continues. On and on. And on.

A church takes their teachings to heart and finds a way to purchase abandoned buildings and force the city government to finance renewal of downtown blocks. State and Federal government programs help but do not solve the underlying problems. A new exterior to a run down building does not inhabit the building with new, hopeful enterprises. No. Something larger will be needed to do that.

So the church takes another step and provides a food pantry to feed the hungry and the homeless. Next they strive to find homes for those in need. Eventually they hope to find better homes for all the temporary settlers! But this is a big job to do and will take time.

And many hands. Think of it. Hands to help. People in need. An army of needy in need. Right now. What to do about that? What to do, indeed!

If we care about our city, our neighborhood, our neighbors, and our family, shouldn’t we be doing something to shore up our community?  It is our community, right? This is home to us; we should pitch in and serve it, save it, build it up for a new day yet to be born on the horizon. Right?

Evidently wrong! This city has nearly disappeared. The residents have built up new strip malls on the fringes of the old city and pretend all is OK. They commute farther and farther from their homes to other cities where economic development provides them a career or living wage. But not in their hometown. And they cannot sell their homes now undervalued below the mortgage outstanding. Or too far below what they paid so that the down payment for a new home elsewhere is now inadequate, unaffordable.

The downward spiral has sucked the life and the money from this city. And they wander about doing little to stop the spiral.

The churches respond. The city leadership is moribund and weak, overcome with the losses and the downtrodden nature of their community. What to do? Yes, what to do?

I’m an outsider asked to help a church build a stronger and larger program to help the downtrodden. They have an idea to also educate the out of work people to outfit them with new skills so they can get jobs somewhere and improve their quality of life. We will try to do this. For this church, this congregation, this hopeful mass of people living out their theology and dreams to make the world a better place.

It takes this spirit to accomplish the horrendously large task. But it will take many more people to chip in and make it possible, too.

It takes a village to sustain itself. People helping people. People celebrating their accomplishments. People finding the joy of life among them and running with that spirit to forge ahead. Yes, it takes a village and it is long past time that this village awakens to the challenge.

This city is America in many ways. So many generations who had a wonderful run at life and now a city in poverty wondering what happened to it all? Well, this is what happens when people focus on their own self and family and not their community. The community rots and fails over time when greed and selfishness are allowed free reign.

It takes incredible courage for a citizen to stand up to these forces of time and say he or she will fight for a better day. But then they realize they cannot do it alone. They ask for help and hopefully they will get it. Hopefully others among us will stand up and lend a hand. And leadership will be tickled into being and action? And for all the right reasons not for power or self aggrandizement?

One can only hope. Without this transformation the village will die. The people of the village will die. And a ghost town will have been born.

Later generations will stumble upon this ghost village and wonder why, like the Aztecs and Incan civilizations that prospered for centuries yet died for even more centuries. What happened and why? That is the question. But the answer is easier than all of that.

Yes, the answer is – What have I done for my village recently?

November 7, 2016