|
Post by greekgod on Sept 25, 2013 19:36:17 GMT -6
It has a lot better chance of making a profit than a $138,000 fountain. A private company would not have the benefits that a municipally owned one would. Don't worry though, I'm sure we'll just keep heading in the same direction. Kyle, I hope so! Streaor is looking better. I believe we might impress more Corporations, and professionals to invest in our Communit if our Main Street had more "High End Stores" to shop than "Second Hand Stores" and " Pawn Shops".. g
|
|
|
Post by Kyle Mitchell on Sept 25, 2013 19:44:29 GMT -6
What happened to the high end stores?
Did they leave with the jobs?
|
|
|
Post by dog on Sept 25, 2013 19:44:34 GMT -6
You cant accurately predict the construction and corresponding price of the network based on population. For instance, Streator has a population density of about 2400 per square mile. Urbana is about 1 1/2 times that and Champaign is 2 times higher. When running the cable, it costs the same to have it available for 10 customers, or 1000 customers in that same service area. By using your formula based on population, you are figuring about 1/6 of the cost, when in actuality it might be 1/3 of the cost, or 10 million. I doubt that it would cost 10 million a year though. You are correct Kyle, I mis-spoke, I didnt mean 10 mil a year, I meant 10 mil to build it. I corrected my mistake in my post.
|
|
|
Post by Kyle Mitchell on Sept 25, 2013 19:47:02 GMT -6
There are plenty of empty spaces; I hear they are going real cheap.
Why don't you open a high end store?
|
|
|
Post by longarm on Sept 25, 2013 19:49:34 GMT -6
define a high end store.
|
|
|
Post by dog on Sept 25, 2013 20:03:08 GMT -6
It has a lot better chance of making a profit than a $138,000 fountain. A private company would not have the benefits that a municipally owned one would. Don't worry though, I'm sure we'll just keep heading in the same direction. Kyle, I hope so! Streaor is looking better. I believe we might impress more Corporations, and professionals to invest in our Communit if our Main Street had more "High End Stores" to shop than "Second Hand Stores" and " Pawn Shops".. g I would agree Greek, Streator is looking better. I do think Main Street does need a make over and improvements. I think 2nd hand stores and pawn shops have a place on Main St with other small, possibly specialized shops. I really dont think we will see a single employer come in and create a thousand jobs. The only way I see that happening is if the person planning it already had some type of connection to Streator. I would focus more on bringing more smaller businesses to Main St, rather then spending a lot of money on the hopes of landing that one big fish. I think if we could attract 10 to 15 niche stores to Main St would be an excellent accomplishment.I also hear a lot of talk about Streator becoming a retirement town, and I really have to ask, what is wrong with that? I like the fact that it takes 5 minutes to get to work, everyone is more laid back, basically a small town life. I have many older customers who moved here from the bigger cities because the cost of living was lower and they didnt have to fight all the traffic to go get groceries, etc. They like the friendly attitude of the people here. I also have customers who work out of town and travel to B/N, Peoria, or the suburbs and choose to live here and commute. People like DD move back here when they retire. All these retirees have money to spend. Do we have to have the newest trend in jobs to have a good community? I think the council is doing a good job, and I think they have done a sufficient job bringing jobs here. I do think the city needs to address the criminal element a little better than they have, but considering the state of the state and the country, I am happy with how my hometown is doing.
|
|
|
Post by greekgod on Sept 25, 2013 20:15:02 GMT -6
There are plenty of empty spaces; I hear they are going real cheap. Why don't you open a high end store? Kyle, I don't have to , I have one. .I never wanted to be the lowest price. g
|
|
|
Post by father of two on Sept 25, 2013 20:24:08 GMT -6
What do you consider to be a live able wage? How much per hour would one have to make?
|
|
|
Post by greekgod on Sept 25, 2013 20:31:33 GMT -6
Kyle, I hope so! Streaor is looking better. I believe we might impress more Corporations, and professionals to invest in our Communit if our Main Street had more "High End Stores" to shop than "Second Hand Stores" and " Pawn Shops".. g I would agree Greek, Streator is looking better. I do think Main Street does need a make over and improvements. I think 2nd hand stores and pawn shops have a place on Main St with other small, possibly specialized shops. I really dont think we will see a single employer come in and create a thousand jobs. The only way I see that happening is if the person planning it already had some type of connection to Streator. I would focus more on bringing more smaller businesses to Main St, rather then spending a lot of money on the hopes of landing that one big fish. I think if we could attract 10 to 15 niche stores to Main St would be an excellent accomplishment.I also hear a lot of talk about Streator becoming a retirement town, and I really have to ask, what is wrong with that? I like the fact that it takes 5 minutes to get to work, everyone is more laid back, basically a small town life. I have many older customers who moved here from the bigger cities because the cost of living was lower and they didnt have to fight all the traffic to go get groceries, etc. They like the friendly attitude of the people here. I also have customers who work out of town and travel to B/N, Peoria, or the suburbs and choose to live here and commute. People like DD move back here when they retire. All these retirees have money to spend. Do we have to have the newest trend in jobs to have a good community? I think the council is doing a good job, and I think they have done a sufficient job bringing jobs here. I do think the city needs to address the criminal element a little better than they have, but considering the state of the state and the country, I am happy with how my hometown is doing. dog,, That, Sir, is what has made you a successful business owner ! I hope you consider running for City Council in the future. That is one of the BEST POST I have read on the SOL ever. g
|
|
|
Post by Kyle Mitchell on Sept 25, 2013 20:32:32 GMT -6
Good luck changing people's spending habits.
I think that when we see more jobs, so that more people have money in their pockets to spend, we will see Main St improve.
Until then we will continue to head in the direction that some people are happy with, decreasing population and property values and increasing vacancies.
Others though are recognizing that we need to start doing things differently.
|
|
|
Post by Kyle Mitchell on Sept 26, 2013 6:31:34 GMT -6
Kyle, I hope so! Streaor is looking better. I believe we might impress more Corporations, and professionals to invest in our Communit if our Main Street had more "High End Stores" to shop than "Second Hand Stores" and " Pawn Shops".. g I would agree Greek, Streator is looking better. I do think Main Street does need a make over and improvements. I think 2nd hand stores and pawn shops have a place on Main St with other small, possibly specialized shops. I really dont think we will see a single employer come in and create a thousand jobs. The only way I see that happening is if the person planning it already had some type of connection to Streator. I would focus more on bringing more smaller businesses to Main St, rather then spending a lot of money on the hopes of landing that one big fish. I think if we could attract 10 to 15 niche stores to Main St would be an excellent accomplishment.I also hear a lot of talk about Streator becoming a retirement town, and I really have to ask, what is wrong with that? I like the fact that it takes 5 minutes to get to work, everyone is more laid back, basically a small town life. I have many older customers who moved here from the bigger cities because the cost of living was lower and they didnt have to fight all the traffic to go get groceries, etc. They like the friendly attitude of the people here. I also have customers who work out of town and travel to B/N, Peoria, or the suburbs and choose to live here and commute. People like DD move back here when they retire. All these retirees have money to spend. Do we have to have the newest trend in jobs to have a good community? I think the council is doing a good job, and I think they have done a sufficient job bringing jobs here. I do think the city needs to address the criminal element a little better than they have, but considering the state of the state and the country, I am happy with how my hometown is doing. dog,, That, Sir, is what has made you a successful business owner ! I hope you consider running for City Council in the future. That is one of the BEST POST I have read on the SOL ever. g Wow, that is great that you are both such successful business owners. So why not open more high end stores here? There are plenty of vacancies that are going real cheap and you said that is what Main Street needs.
|
|
|
Post by father of two on Sept 26, 2013 7:17:02 GMT -6
What do you consider to be a live able wage? How much per hour would one have to make? Kyle, could you please answer this question?
|
|
|
Post by Kyle Mitchell on Sept 26, 2013 7:54:00 GMT -6
Champaign Urbana is a lot bigger - 232,000. Adjusting for size by population would provide a more comparative cost of about $5 million. About 88% of the Champaign Urbana project was covered with grant money. If that could happen here, it would only be $600,000 out of City funds. Heck, that is only a little more than a band shell, and a fountain. Chanute, with 50% less people than us is able to make $600,000 just a couple of years after finishing their expansion. Using that number, adjusted for population, we could make $900,00/year in a couple of years. How much do you expect the fountain will generate? Sorry, I just do not see it as economic development. I am sure it could be available to businesses as soon as it is available to the City, if the business wants to pay to run it on their own, but that would be very, very costly. I may be wrong, but I think we will wait for years, just like 4G, if we wait for a private company to expand the network to make it available to businesses. Have those companies been knocking on the City's door to find out about permits for that expansion? You missed two important points 1) 29.4 million is not enough to cover a town of 232,000. That amount covers a portion of the area and population. Your estimates really can't extrapolate accurately without knowing that percentage. 2) The 88% covered by grant money - This grant came from the same program that is paying for ifiber. Both are administered by the NTIA. At this point, All of the fiber optics that will come to Streator are covered by it. So, we are already taking advantage of that grant. I think every community is different and comparing $29.4 million to anything in Streator is a further stretch than the 5 million number I came back with. Too bad it won't really be looked at properly so that a real number for Streator is obtained. Obviously the grant is taking it to more than just a couple of institutions there, perhaps a grant could have helped make it available to businesses here too. We will just have to wait and see what happens here, it will be interesting.
|
|
|
Post by Kyle Mitchell on Sept 26, 2013 8:07:53 GMT -6
What do you consider to be a live able wage? How much per hour would one have to make? Kyle, could you please answer this question? I don't have a specific number. I don't feel that just the lowest paying jobs can properly support families or the economy of a community. We shouldn't turn away any jobs, but we should try to concentrate on ones that can pay more. I think that many of the jobs that are linked to fiber optic speeds provide a more livable wage. I know someone that just started his first IT job at over $40K plus benefits.
|
|
|
Post by dog on Sept 26, 2013 8:14:44 GMT -6
Kyle, could you please answer this question? I know someone that just started his first IT job at over $40K plus benefits. Was his job created as a direct result of fiber optics?
|
|