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Central Illinois Gazette

Tough review of Hoopeston

Posted by: Tom Kacich

Wednesday, June 17, 2009 8:20 AM

For some reason the good folks of Hoopeston didn't like this story in the Southtown Star, which was part of an attempt to lure retirees from the Chicago suburbs -- not a bad idea, actually -- to the northern Vermilion County community.

The piece is not nearly as negative as the first few paragraphs, however.

Two hours outside of Chicago, on the sheet-of-paper flat landscape of downstate Illinois, Exit 261 beckons.

A straight, 20-mile shot from Interstate 57 on Illinois 9, cutting through fields with tiny corn plants as far as the eye can see, another sign emerges: "Hoopeston, pop. 6000." A water tower a few blocks later declares the town the "Sweet Corn Capital." At Hoopeston Area High School, the Cornjerkers play ball.

Quaint, middle America.

But there's more: A downtown with just as many businesses closed as open. A brick factory - where lunch boxes and pale green Stanley Thermoses came and went with each shift - vacant with windows broken. Dozens of houses for sale in various stages of distress.

Hoopeston is dying.

Now the town is looking to our retirees to bring it back to life.

The city this summer is setting aside $4,000 to start a campaign marketing Hoopeston as an alternative to the dizzying rat race, unrelenting tax bills and expensive lifestyle of the Chicago area. The south suburbs, in particular, will be targeted.

Hoopeston will be recast from the struggling small town to the cheap, quiet spot to spend your golden years comfortably on a fixed income.

If you call Hoopeston City Hall, someone will gladly take you on a tour of what the community has to offer.

Longtime city attorney Paul Manion said the promotion probably is the last shot at recapturing Hoopeston's heydey, when the downtown bustled and the plentiful supply of jobs kept families around for generations."

The rest is here ...

http://www.southtownstar.com/news/tridgell/1611543,060809tridgell.article