Civic Life

I love to walk in Valpo. On foot, you notice things you don’t otherwise see — a wildflower, the sunlight and shadows on a building, a neighbor’s smile. You also notice things that aren’t so nice — a new pothole, a broken sidewalk. Our city’s infrastructure is essential to our quality of life. It delivers…

The answer is it depends. In some cases, sure they do. But on average, they lead to higher tax rates and don’t create the jobs they promise. Don’t take my word on it. Read this study from Ball State University: Some Economic Effects of Tax Increment Financing in Indiana

This is the place to hear our podcast, For The Love Of Valpo.

We grew up in a small, three-bedroom, one-bathroom home on the south side of Hammond, Indiana, with an unfinished basement and two giant maple trees in the front yard. I am the middle of three boys. Mom and Dad bought the house the night before I was born, as we outgrew the apartment in East…

I never knew I could love a home that I didn’t live in so much. But I do. I fell in love with 105 Michigan in my hometown of Valparaiso back in 2015. That year, I read about her in the newspaper. She was 89 years old and under threat …

Tonight the Valparaiso City Council voted 6-1 to pass Ordinance No. 14 – 2017, designating the proposed St. Paul Square development as an economic development target area, paving the way for the related tax abatements. And, though I argued against it, I don’t see it as a complete loss …

We often get tangled up talking about diversity. Most of us, myself included, spend a lot of our time with people like us. So it’s hard to talk about unfamiliar things. It’s uncomfortable. To help myself get out of my comfort zone, I spent some time thinking about why diversity matters. Here’s what I’ve got so far: Diversity is inevitable; it is interesting; and it is necessary for society …

Dear Mayor Costas, Good morning. Thank you for presiding over another contentious community conversation with decorum and dignity. Your leadership and insights were, as always, very helpful! The St. Paul’s project is, no doubt, going to be an improvement over what was there and, for that, I am excited. However, as I expressed last night, we still seem to struggle to find ways share complete and accurate information about what’s going on in the city…

For a century now, a public library has stood at the corner of Michigan and Jefferson Streets in Valparaiso’s historic Central neighborhood. The original building, made possible by generous community contributions and a grant from the famous industrialist and public library advocate, Andrew Carnegie, was torn down in 1994 to make way for the modern structure which stands there today…

An estimated 32,000 people live in Valpo. 21% are under 18 years old. (Sorry kids, but for this post you don’t count — at least not directly). That leaves about 25,000 of us eligible to vote in next Tuesday’s general citywide election. But how many ballots were cast in the last citywide general in 2011?