Downtown Needs Residents

A recent Quincy Herald Whig headline "Company Ends Carson Deal" was not good news for the city or those business people in the downtown area.  The Indianapolis  based management company could not get the tax credits they needed from the Illinois Housing Development Authority to go forward with their plans for the Carson Building at 500 Maine Street.  They had planned on renovating the building with support from the City of Quincy.  The downtown area of Quincy has seen a revival of late which counters the progress of other downtown areas in cities around the United States.  New businesses have been developing recently in the downtown district but what is now needed are people to shop those businesses and for people to actually live there as well. And that is why yesterday's news was disappointing.  For a downtown to flourish, people need to be living there and not just working there. If you live there you will also shop there. They go hand in hand. Another project that has hit a snag is the old "Kensington Building" at 4th and Maine.  This building has been empty for as long as I can remember. I know the City of Quincy has been trying to get ownership to renovate the property there and develop it into apartments or whatever. I always thought a great scenario would be for the main floor to house a grocery store with apartments on the remaining floors.  Perhaps Winking's Grocery could move into it if and when they are ready to leave their building. That grocery would serve the people in the Carson, Kensington and Lincoln Douglas Apartments as well as the workers in the downtown district.  Downtown is making strides to lure business people to the area now they need to encourage people to live there as well.