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dollars the city can reap through its proximity to the mighty Mississippi River are economic
development strategies that are already working well in stabilizing population and hopefully bringing some of the "bluffs"
homebuyers back.
"In 2007 alone, we were able to take down three housing projects," Sandidge said. "And in their place will be new,
affordable housing. Also, when I became mayor we started a home ownership program to help first-time buyers with their down
payments. To date, we've helped more than 500 families through that program."
Successful redevelopment of old commercial buildings into for-purchase, upscale residential lofts in Alton's downtown
district is another example of an effort the city is making to increase its population.
And in Hunterstown, one of the inner city areas of Alton yet to be rejuvenated, the mayor says there is a revitalization
dream alive for that spot. "We're hoping to develop studio houses and make it an artists' community," Sandidge said.
Alton, like many cities in Southwestern Illinois, is keenly aware of the per-capita formula through which the state of
Illinois pays municipalities approximately $59 per head. In FY 2006, for example, the city of Alton received $1.8 million as
its per-capita share of income tax dollars from the state.
Alton's proximity to the Mighty Mississippi is a resource not to be left out of the overall strategy. Sandidge says the
beauty of the Great River Road, the majesty of the American Bald Eagle and the area's designation as a National Scenic Byway
is a quality of life benchmark that can not only draw visitors but attract homebuyers as well.
"We want to bring our population back," he said. "And we're working hard at it." Cahokia
Frank Bergman is mayor of the village of Cahokia. Although Cahokia began as an agricultural community in the early 1920s,
since the end of WWII a good majority of its residents settled there to work industrial jobs in the neighboring village of
Sauget.
"At one time, there was tons of industry here," said Bergman. "Then in the mid 1970s, the EPA and lots of regulations
caused plants to downsize or close completely. During that period, we lost a lot of our population."
In 1970, a total of 20,649 people called Cahokia home. As of 2006, according to the Census Bureau, the population totaled
15,430.
Bergman credits enthusiastic investment on the part of companies such as Midcoast Aviation - the village's largest
employer - as factors that have helped Cahokia retain its population.
"Just last year, there were 100 new homes started in Cahokia," Bergman said. "For a village our size, that's impressive.
One builder, Don Johnson, has done probably half of them. It's part of an infill program where we take possession of vacant
properties. When people buy the home and the property on which to put up the new home, we forgive any liens against the
property. It's working well," he added. Granite City
In 1970, the city of Granite City's population totaled 40,658. Mayor Ed Hagnauer says the bustling steel town couldn't
build homes fast enough to hold its workers, many of whom literally came by the truckload.
"Granite built houses as quickly as it could and put them on small lots," he said. "We built a lot of properties on 20,
30 and 35-foot lots, what today they would call 'shotgun' houses."
Later, as those who lived and worked in Granite City became more prosperous, they desired bigger and better housing, he
said, and they looked to where the larger homes were - on the bluffs. "Many of them became mobile, their family sizes
increased and they moved to the larger houses on the bluffs," he said, meaning those towns away from the floodplain of the
Mississippi River.
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Jonathan Ferry is Granite City's economic planner. He says Granite City grew at a rapid rate from up through 1973, when
the second high school opened. Very shortly after that time - when the city's population had peaked between 42,000 to 43,000
and when the economic recession hit in 1974 - the city's numbers began falling.
Hagnauer says the city's municipal infrastructure, its housing stock and its easy accessibility to St. Louis - now that
the McKinley Bridge is reopened - makes it an obvious choice today for residential, commercial and industrial lookers.
"Our treatment plant is regional, and we're only at 49 percent capacity right now," Hagnauer said. "We're ready for more
growth today. We're hoping for it. The up side to all of this is that because we were once at 43,000 population, we've got
the capability of serving that size population base again."
When he was on the Madison County Board, Hagnauer says municipalities such as Troy were discussing assessment fees of up
to $3,500 to try to slow down their communities' residential growth. He says not to look for that strategy from Granite
City.
"If you're not ready for the growth, you've got to do that. We're ready," he said. Challenges
Frank Spreng, professor of economics at McKendree University and director of its MBA program, grew up in Pittsburgh and
observed the collapse of its steel industry. What he sees in the American Bottom cities is similarly cyclical.
"As the major industries change, the towns along them are going to change along the way," Spreng said. "It's a process of
readjustment and redevelopment. The populations decreased and the Altons and Granite Cities became smaller cities, and maybe
initially they became less attractive and people began to move out; there was higher unemployment, property taxes became
lower. But then the cities became more attractive again. The nature of these towns change - as it did and as it does with
Pittsburgh - and the city infrastructure, city government, city pride readjusts and repositions. But as one group (industry)
moves out, it makes it more attractive for another group to move in."
Robert Koepke is emeritus professor of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's department of geography. Koepke
believes that the population migration phase from the American Bottom communities may well have played itself out as of
several years ago.
The question to ask now, he suggests, is what is behind the U.S. Census information.
"The issue that we don't know is what's happening to the population character," Koepke said. "Who has left? Are they the
younger, largely middle class, leaving behind the less-privileged and the older? That's what these numbers don't tell us."
Challenges that the American Bottom cities and villages continue to face today and into the future, whether they're at
peak population or climbing back from a low point, are these, according to Koekpe: 1) making sure their community remains a
profitable place in which to do business, and 2) making sure it's an attractive, affordable destination in which to live.
"The reopening of the McKinley Bridge and the viability of the Tri-City Regional Port District are two of the most
powerful assets the American Bottom has going for it," said Koepke. "The good news in all of this is that the plan for
bringing population back can be impacted significantly by local action. You don't have to wait for outsiders to spend money.
You don't have to wait on the federal government. You can start on a local level in making it happen."
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