What do you want Hammond to be?

Hopefully we can avoid the partisan debates on this thread and just answer the question.
What do you want Hammond to be? What is you vision of our cities future?
My vision is of a true cutting edge "green" city with decentralized renewable energy production and a real emphasis on the basic "reduce, reuse, recycle" tenets that many have seen to have forgotten.
That's one from me, what's one from you?

I would like to see Hammond be ridded of all it's substandard housing. I would like to see Hammond have schools that are equal to or better than the surrounding communities. I think if those two goals are met, they would go a long way towards lowering the crime rate in Hammond.

Thanks Sparks!
That's two, and no politics yet.
Who's next?

i agree with sparks vision. i think a strong middle income community with competitive schools is a reasonable and noble vision..

i dont believe it possible/nor responsible to expect hammond to suddenly become naperville.

however i do think its possible over time to rebuild the city into a modern version of what it once was.

while green is a nice compliment, and i approve of it in small doses. i dont think it is an intrical necessity to the overall success of the city.

it will take a multi-faceted approach however. the first key is the local education system. improving it would bring strong upwardly mobile families into the city that would on thier own improve much of the housing situation through the private sector.

another is the destruction of blighted properties, of which huge strides have been made in this area in recent years. unfortunately an old city the size of hammond. this is work that will have to continue unyieldingly for a number of years.

i still believe in the possibility of a solid local transportation system. but it must focus on connecting the whole of the region to chicago, and not to other parts in the region. any local bus service must concentrate on connecting to the south shore or other chicago bound transportation services.

i also believe that an end to the mean of a better hammond includes the illiana expressway. for we need to alleviate much of the borman traffic (more than just through mass transit) to make illinois more accessable for auto commuters as well.

as far as jobs go. hammond, and nwi is getting better and better all the time as an alternative location to the illinois side, as once again illinois is about to raise taxes accross the board. but we need to halt the perception that nwi is a political mess. of course as illinois continues to wallow in its own corruption scandals, lake county isnt looking as bad as it used to on this front either.

i also think purdue cal, will be a huge asset in the city's eventual turnaround.

but back to step 1 on my list. we have to focus more, as a community on our school system. we cant look to officials or just money to fix the problem for us. for one thing thier are jurisdicitional authority issues on the matter. for another i dont expect any official to care more about the schooling of our children, then we as parents, uncles, or citizens would.

as for money. experience has proven time and time again that money alone doesnt educate anyone. time, effort, vigilence, and persistance are what will enable us to improve our school system..

I want Hammond to be a leader in standards. From housing to schools I want Hammond to be innovative and forward thinking. Putting gaming money into use in ways that will benefit in the long term after we are all gone.