By Mike Matejka
Last week the McLean County Regional Planning Commission sponsored a program with Bruce Katz from the Brooking Institution. He outlined what he called “Innovation Districts,” communities which were rediscovering and reformulating themselves for the 21st century.
Katz outlined in the 19th century, communities developed around factories. In the mid-20th century, it was edge of the city research parks. Today, he formulates its older neighborhoods and downtowns which attract millennials and economic start-ups.
As I listened, it hit me that here in McLean County we have the pieces of Katz’s puzzle. Those millennials seem to live on craft beer and coffee, so chalk up Destihl and Coffee Hound as key ingredients. Those bars and coffee shops are important because he said young entrepreneurs and tech geeks thrive in an open environment, where they can share ideas and bounce off each other. They want an urban ambience where they don’t have to drive to work and can have a stimulating cultural and recreational world at their fingertips.
When Constitution Trail was first announced, many scoffed at the idea of linear bike and walking trails. According to Katz, other communities are now scrambling to build those trails which we have already. Plus, with Illinois State, Illinois Wesleyan and Heartland College, we have the academic and campus world that not only feeds new graduates, but also can offer related research to emerging businesses.
As Katz described the pieces of an emerging economy, McLean County is in an enviable position. So what are we lacking? Number one, we need to appreciate what we have, particularly in Uptown Normal and Downtown Bloomington, as more than entertainment areas, but as the zones that will attract and retain new businesses. Our major employers have their own campuses on the community’s periphery, how do we connect the young techies in those companies with the urban space that keeps them here? And finally, how do we better link our educational institutions to have the research and learning environment that will feed further economic growth?
Standing still and resting on our laurels is not enough. Having an outsider like Bruce Katz sharing his thoughtful assessment should propel dialogue and action on how we move McLean County into the 21st century economy.
Mike Matejka is the Governmental Affairs director for the Great Plains Laborers District Council, covering 11,000 union Laborers in northern Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. He lives in Normal. He served on the Bloomington City Council for 18 years, is a past president of the McLean County Historical Society and Vice-President of the Illinois Labor History Society.
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