Scoopn' Loop 2010 Canceled

[Danno]

Why could there be a "Waukegan Days" type affair? A small carnival ride setup in one of abandonded lots, an area for local vendors and restaurants to sell their goods, another area for car and motorcycle exhibits, an area for local bands to perform... Oh, but wait, I'm sobering up and realizing something... People don't go downtown for much of anything except for work or court (9a-4p, M-F), very few businesses exsist in the "city" anymore except a couple of second hand stores and fast food joints (OK, maybe a couple of bars/taverns), and no one wants to believe that sometimes you need to spend a buck to make a buck or that sacrifices sometimes need to be made that will help in the long run.
We need help in this area. I live just outside of the downtown area and things are slipping away quickly (as they are in the entire city in appears). On a regular basis, I have to go out of the city to find entertainment/dining. How much worse do things need to get before they get better? I want to support local business, I want to be proud to live here and invite others to visit but what do we have left to promote? I don't have the answers but I think we need to open our eyes, pick ourselves up and get moving forward... or continue to wait for something good to happen as the rest of the world passes us by....

I offered to give a very good event, The Waukegan Harbor Antique Show, to both the city and Waukegan Main Street and neither of them wanted to take it over. It very likely will cease to exist. Main Street turned it down mainly because the event is not on "main street" but at the harbor. It especially disturbs me that the city would not take over the event because with Scooping Genesee gone there would seem to be a gap to fill in the work load of the special events department.

The city or entities that are subsidiary to the city need to PROACTIVELY seek out and subsidize Urban Oriented Pioneering Enterprizes (UOPE's - a term I made up) for the lakefront area. The downtown and the lakefront should always be considered together. To seperate them is foolish.