Gary looks to move plans forward for blight removal, infrastructure improvements

"Within a two-block radius you can count 10 to 20 vacant homes that aren't reusable. No one is going to fix them up. No one is going to purchase them. They're just eyesores," he said. "The vegetation around them is higher than the homes almost."

The city is slowly working on knocking down these homes, there have been  more than 300 structures demolished around the city through one federal program. In addition, the city paved $6.5 million worth of roads in 2014 with another $6 million in paving being done this summer. Still some longtime residents like Robert McCuiston, 65, said many roads remain in terrible condition and the city plans to use money from a recently approved wheel tax combined with state matching funds to begin making annual repairs to streets and other infrastructure.

While blight removal and infrastructure improvements are a top priority for many residents of the city, there are a lot of other needs brought up at various community meetings on plans being developed by the city.

The need to fully implement some of the plans is why the city's Redevelopment Commission recently entered into a public-private partnership with MaiaCo, LLC, according to Joe Van Dyk, the director of the city's Planning and Redevelopment Department. Van Dyk said the city does not have the money to implement all the plans on its own. A look at some of these plans shows that while some items have been accomplished, much has yet to be done.