Making a suburb competitive with neighbors

Having paid my dues for 39 years as a resident of Des Plaines, I congratulate the City Council there on passing a new mission statement that pledges to foster economic prosperity. Significantly, the mission statement also promises to work toward building the city’s image.

That’s well and good, but what does that mean on the streets? It means caring about appearances enough to pressure real estate developers to nick their bottom lines enough to plan and plant for green space, stop hanging ugly balconies that extend beyond a building facade, bring pressure to clean up lawns and unsightly broken fences, repair Lee Street’s bumpy hodgepodge of pavement and make Metropolitan Square truly accessible and attractive.

That all will cost money. But it will lift the image of Des Plaines up from the ranks of being a tawdry old ‘burb that’s sliding downhill to a town that’s competitive with suburbs around it.

Dan Brown

Huntley