As we look ahead to the upcoming budget session, an opportunity for Mayor Kelly Thomson and her team to present their annual goals and related funding requests to the Bloomington City Council, I realize the connections I see in our work and across our community may not be obvious to others. Specifically, I’ve heard questions about whether a convention center and trade district is viable as an economic development strategy.
In short, they are not doable. At least, they cannot be done on their own. But these efforts, viewed together with all our other efforts, represent important steps toward stabilizing and growing our overall economy. It is important to recognize these efforts as part of a larger, integrated plan. Why do we need a strong economy?
This means that if we do things right, it will be easier for you to live, work and play here. When our economy is strong, you can live in Bloomington without worrying about whether your paycheck will come in before rent is due. And when our economy is strong, our City gets the tax revenue we need to support everything from transportation to parks to public arts to climate action to shelters and services for homeless people to maintenance of our public spaces to police and so much more. The Mayor’s vision for Bloomington is a vibrant, inclusive and sustainable community where all our residents have the opportunity to thrive.
Living in Bloomington can come with challenges, especially low wages, high cost of living, and high income inequality. For example, Bloomington’s Gini coefficient is 0.53, which represents “severe” income inequality. While Bloomington does not have the highest coefficient in the state, the high cost of living combined with a housing shortage is making our community rapidly less competitive as a place to live. For example, Bloomington’s homeownership rate is 35%, while the state average is 70%. As anyone who lives here knows, this is not because Bloomingtonians don’t want to own a home. These challenges are manifested in the gradual population decline since a brief recovery after a significant pandemic-induced drop in 2020.
But going back to the Convention Center, Trade District, and Hopewell, each of these projects addresses one of our critical economic constraints. Hopewell will chip away at our overall housing shortage by creating a “high density urban” of up to 850 units located along Bloomington Transit’s east-west bus rapid transit line, within walking distance to downtown. Hopewell is beginning to take shape with construction starting on Kohr Community Flats later this year, Hopewell Commons opening to the public this fall, a call for developers for Hopewell South (the area closest to McDole Gardens) going out within the next month, and feedback being received on public art proposals for Hopewell Commons. Hopewell will add approximately 800 homes, townhouses, condos, and apartments, and this increase in housing stock will lower the overall cost of housing in Bloomington and help reduce housing insecurity.
Sector development refers to the ability of a community to have multiple baskets of economic eggs (sorry, but the agricultural metaphor works better for me than hoops). Bloomington has some very large baskets, including higher education and life science manufacturing. Diversifying baskets makes our economy more resilient to macroeconomic pressures (like the pandemic, for example). With work being done to drive development in the Trade District, with two buildings, the Kiln and Forge, coming online this fall, and new grant funding to accelerate development through partnerships with IU, the Mill, and the city, our community is making incredible progress to expand Bloomington’s technology sector. Through Bloomington Remote, the Mill is working to foster local talent by attracting remote workers to Bloomington. And they’re building a great community in doing it.
The development of the convention center represents another economic basket that will have several important moves. First, it helps protect Bloomington from the slow season when IU is not in session. Second, it brings outside money to support local service sector businesses. That is, the convention center functions like a trade sector business that sells goods and services outside of the community. The convention center’s market size is not limited by population, and residents are not responsible for generating the revenue that drives activity. Instead, Bloomington’s businesses benefit from off-cycle (and on-cycle) visitors to town. In fact, we all benefit. It contributes to the vibrancy of downtown and the entire neighborhood.
Read more: Monroe Convention Center expansion moves forward with site, architect selection
As you can see, there is no single solution that addresses all aspects of these issues. Instead, we have removed the constraints on growth and built amazing assets such as a walkable downtown, IU’s amazing campus and its community, tons of great restaurants, coffee shops, breweries, food trucks, college sports, the incredible natural beauty of Monroe County, mountain biking opportunities, road biking opportunities, Little 5, numerous art galleries, the largest lake in Indiana, Hoosier hospitality, farmers markets, community orchards, the Hub, the Quarry, dog parks, skate parks, neighborhood parks, Cascade, Switchyard, B-Line, great schools and educators, many opportunities for pickleball, Western Skateland, Queertonk, Back Door, Fourth Street, Limestone Comedy, performing arts opportunities, glass studios, public art, local hardware and donut stores, and of course other super fun events throughout the year.
If we work together, with empathy and determination, we can ensure Bloomington remains a dynamic and resilient community for years to come.
Jane Coopersmith is director of economic and sustainable development for the City of Bloomington.
