it is just that the city is in denial. We already have gangs, and drug dealers, and broken down housing, and all of that other stuff. Only difference we have is that the City Police are only interested in giving out parking tickets, traffic tickets, harassing the street vendors over licenses, etc than cleaning out the filth of the city. A friend of mine got mugged three times in a row, one of them a Police officer was nearby and did nothing.

Downtown buildings are already falling apart and they don't enforce the building codes, as a result we have a lot of slum-lord/ladies that charge high rent for shabby apartments. Trust me, I used to live downtown in my college years from 1987-1989. The cockroaches only got "high" on Camicide and Bugbombs. One business I worked for, paid me with personal checks from the owner. When I asked for a W2 form, he just laughed, then I was let go. No record of me ever working there according to the state. But they get away with it.

I ask again, how much of the income that the ballparks make do the taxpayers see? Explain cities like St. Charles, or Imperial that still thrive despite not having ballparks, and being very far away from said city ballparks?