A Prelude

I moved back to Peoria in 2002. I knew no one. I was a dumb, 21 year old kid, moving into the Midwest winter from what was arguably the most vibrant underground electronic music scene in the country. I was drawn immediately to the 500 block of Main Street in downtown Peoria. There were bars up and down the street, hundreds upon hundreds of people shuffling in and out of noisy, smoky escapes from everyday ennui. A person didn't fear parking their car on Monroe or Madison or even Perry and walking to the 500 block because there were so many people around. So many people from all the parts of Peoria congregating in this energetic, vibrant, optimistic epicenter of nightlife.

Don't get it twisted. There were fights, there were obnoxious pricks doing their damnedest to ruin it for everyone else, but their damnedest wasn't enough. The sounds, the smells, the feel of the whole thing was good. It was an escape from the wagging fingers and failed outlooks of the rest of the City. It was sweaty and drunk and loud, but it gave the City a togetherness. It gave the City a primal scream, something that told the liveliest of the young a reason to think we're all here, doing the best we can to keep our heads up and enjoy the naivety of youth.

I don't think we even need to set the bar at that. We don't need crazy youth to make our City work. We just need a half-full glass. Just a little hope, just a few people saying, "Yeah, let's take a risk." Just a few people saying, "Hell, why not?" Just a few of us who aren't afraid to walk the streets under the bright lights of optimism.

There are beautiful, bright lights already. The beats of the heart of our City. The businesses upon which Jim Ardis and our city council are doing their damnedest to shine light. I drive through the heart of it every day. Down the Western Avenue hill, down Lincoln, and through the Warehouse District. Through the art galleries, through the streets our City has invested in to instill an identity, a heart, a deep breath every good city needs.

That's what this blog will be about. The deep breath Peoria needs. The liveliness of a downtown. The smells and the sounds and the people walking the streets, the hopes of their City in their lungs and the future of it in their hearts.

          I have never been known for my optimism. I am cranky. I am defeatist. I am angry. I am not going to be that person here. I am creating this blog to talk about the positive things happening in Peoria, Illinois.

          More specifically, I am creating this blog to talk about the positive things happening in the HEART of Peoria, Illinois.The Warehouse District. The 500 Block. The East and West Bluffs. The South End.I want a finger on the pulse of the new urban growth in Peoria.

           I'll need help, because there is a paradigm of failure and negativity among the citizens of Peoria across all socioeconomic strata. Anyone who pays attention to me on Facebook (you lucky bastards) knows how I abhor the excuses Peorians make up to not enjoy what their city offers. One need only read the belligerent, ignorant comments under the articles on CIProud or...shit. That's the only local news website.

           So what say you, citizens?