Michigan City Mayor Ron Meer describes the future development of Michigan City like a game of football. For years, the city has been planning on various projects that would update and re-renovate Michigan City. This is what he referred to as “huddling and calling the plays”.
“For the last few years some people have been reluctant to take action, but we can’t have that any longer,” says Meer. “We’ve huddled up, called the plays and now it’s time to run the ball.”
Meer along with Councilman Rich Murphy held a luncheon and presentation to prospective realtors who showed interest in Michigan City’s development and how the city would improve itself over the next few years.
“We asked ourselves when it was time to rise up and do something great for the city and we realized that the time is now,” says Murphy. “The mayor deemed this the beginning of the Michigan City comeback story. This is a big deal, this is not a small quick burn for a short period, and this is a long burn for a long sustained period of time.”
Many of the major projects on the horizon focused on the improvement of existing areas such as 11th Streetscape Project and 94 Bridge Beautification project.
“We want to expand who we appeal to, specifically places farther away such as South Bend and Chicago,” says Murphy. "With the recent start of the Uptown Art Space project, our goal is to have people come visit Michigan City and enjoy this great art district.”
Murphy also stressed the importance of making the existing cities and areas more appealing and memorable so the existing population continues to live work and play in Michigan City. This includes adding more attractive signs, more venues that shy away from the industrialized bland environments, bring in big franchises that are interested in Michigan City and focus more on giving a better, more scenic view of the Lake Michigan throughout different locations in the city.
“Lake Michigan is not going anywhere, it’s an important asset that’s here to stay and we need to utilize that,” says Murphy. “We have 5 million people visit Lighthouse Premium Outlets and 2 million visiting Blue Chip Casino. We need to find a way to bring these people downtown.”
One of the ways the city hopes for more visitors to reach Michigan City is through the Transit Triangle, a commuter service that travels between Michigan City, Purdue North Central and La Porte. Another method discussed was the improvement of existing road.
“We are currently beginning work on making certain roads two lane conversions to make travel more efficient,” says Murphy. “We are also working on improving roads for cyclists to ride through. The entire purpose is to make travel easier and more convenient.”
With all of the changes and improvements on the horizon, both Meer and Murphy stressed the importance of keeping people engaged, informed and interested.
“We have what we call a social media master plan,” says Murphy. "This means utilizing the services available to us including Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Instagram to create groups and accounts where we can share images and communicate with the people who follow us.”
“I have a phrase I always use with my staff and that phrase is 'Cleaner, Safer, Better'. The cleaner our city’s demeanor is, the safer it is, the better it is for everyone and as a result, more people will show interest.”
Mayor Meer closed the meeting by saying that the planning period for improvement is over and now is the time to take action. “Crime is down 29% over the last 3 years, the lowest it’s ever been,” says Meer. “The community is engaged, we have the money it’s what we call a perfect storm, and it’s time to make Michigan City a memorable place again.”