Gary, Indiana is a city that is losing residents by the thousands. They have a weak tax base and there is very few jobs in the city as well as a high crime rate. These are the things that new Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson will have to combat when she takes over the city from Mayor Rudolph Clay in two weeks.
Freeman-Wilson made history when she became the first female mayor in Gary in history. She will be inheriting a city that has a vast amount of resources but no one that has really put them to use.
Gary sits right on Lake Michigan but does not have a marina. In fact, Gary is the only city from Chicago to New Buffalo, Michigan that sits along Lake Michigan that does not have a marina. The city of Gary has really wasted the land that sits on Lake Michigan. They have not developed that land well at all. This land would be right for something similar to Navy Pier as well as some luxury type housing., but political grandstanding has kept the development of the land from moving forward.
It will be up to Freeman-Wilson to work with the city council to see to it that this land is used for far more than leverage in political fights. This will continue to be a problem as the city council has been a deterrent to lots of projects in the past.
Gary will also have to develop more technical jobs. The city has relied on the Steel mills for years and need to develop jobs and technical knowledge that can bring the city into the 21st century. They need to use the city of Pittsburgh as a model. Pittsburgh has moved away from its steel mill roots and moved to more jobs in the technical field to supplement its steel mill heritage.
Gary, Indiana and Karen Freeman-Wilson will have to do the same if the negative perception of Gary is going to be changed in the region as well as the nation.