Hanover Park residents share vision for better community

Residents armed with poster board, markers and visions for a better Hanover Park filled a room at the Poplar Creek Public Library Sonya Crawshaw Branch Monday.

They used terms like "scattered," "poor," "stuck in the past" and "riddled with crime" to describe the current state of the village.

But in their next breaths, they painted a brighter future - hoping a strong identity, sense of community and diverse housing someday will define the place they call home.

The exercise was one of several tools Evanston-based Teska Associates will use to formulate a comprehensive plan for Hanover Park, which incorporates citizen input through a community survey and public forums.

Wayne Grove, who has lived in Hanover Park for 43 years, said he'd like to see more upscale housing and residents, along with a downtown area.

"We have lower property taxes than most and great roadways," said Grove, one of more than 20 people to attend the session. "There's no reason we can't take on some of the traits of the towns that surround us, like Schaumburg or Bartlett."

Business representatives also spoke up in favor of easing sign restrictions for businesses and becoming more business-friendly.

In another exercise, Grove joined Mayor Rod Craig, Trustee Rick Roberts, development commission members and others in ranking residential and commercial architecture. Using portable devices that automatically tallied their responses, they punched in numbers corresponding to how strongly they liked or disliked images.

First, Teska associate Benjamin Carlisle summarized the firm's community assessment of the village.

The report labeled Hanover Park a bedroom community that's more racially diverse and less educated than the metro area. It's very affordable, and housing vacancies are low. He also said attached and detached single-family homes - most more than 40 years old - dominate Hanover Park, which deters certain groups from moving in, such as young professionals, and has contributed to an aging population.

The report also stated the quality of housing is a concern and attributed the lack of property maintenance to code enforcement, financial means, economic conditions and general pride in homeownership and neighborhood.

Residents may attend another meeting which has yet to be scheduled.

For details about the comprehensive plan or to take a community survey, visit www.teskaassociates.com/hanoverpark.