Small Illinois town finds hope in new school and grocery store – CBS News/AOL

When steel and manufacturing jobs dried up over the last several decades in Venice, the town lost two-thirds of the population, followed by its only grocery store and only school. Now, the Illinois Grocery Initiative is funding a new grocery store in Venice through a $2.4 million state grant. It's set to begin construction next month, along with a medical clinic and affordable housing. A new school has already been built.
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Riverbender
7 months ago

Getting a new school too for its under 100 students thanks to the taxpayers of Illinois.

mqyl
7 months ago

Then, the same people who say downtown Chicago is making a comeback can say the same about the East St. Louis area.

the doctor
7 months ago

Population at 1,500 in 2020 and has been declining. No stores in nearby towns? Very heavy subsidy per person, let alone per family.

GM
7 months ago

This place isn’t just “dying”, it’s *dead*; any money poured into here is sheer waste; from Wiki:

“The median income for a household in the city was $19,853, and the median income for a family was $24,432. Males had a median income of $35,515 versus $22,411 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,483. About 34.9% of families and 39.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 55.7% of those under age 18 and 29.6% of those age 65 or over…’

David F
7 months ago

Law of supply and demand works, this won’t.

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