A Day of Service, A Commitment to Revitalization

Today, 26 Evansville volunteers and City crews came together in the Glenwood/Culver neighborhood for our 12th Block by Block event, held in partnership with United Way of Southwestern Indiana's Day of Caring.

This year's event carried special meaning, marking the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001. On this National Day of Service and Remembrance, our community honored that spirit by rolling up their sleeves and serving their neighbors.

But today was also part of something more: our ongoing commitment to strengthen Evansville's neighborhoods.

When I came into office, I said neighborhood revitalization would be one of my top priorities. That means removing blight, creating and preserving quality housing, investing in parks and public spaces, and actively caring for the neighborhoods where people live, work and play. Strong neighborhoods are the backbone of a strong Evansville.

As a city, when we actively remediate abandoned buildings, clean up vacant lots, and invest in neglected neighborhoods, it triggers a chain reaction of positive social and economic outcomes. Our efforts boost property values, reduce city expenses, lower crime rates, prevent fires, and eliminate environmental hazards, all while improving our mental health rebuilding our community spirit, and attracting new investments.

Simply put, when we fight blight - we not only make Evansville cleaner... but safer, wealthier, and healthier. A win, win, win!

Through our Fight Blight Initiative, we set an ambitious goal of removing 150 blighted residential structures. Today, as part of our Block-by-Block work in Glenwood/Culver, we demolished our 125th structure.

Those demolitions have reached more than 15 neighborhoods across Evansville. But our goal isn't simply to tear down what has been neglected. It's to build something better in its place.

That's why we're pairing blight removal with investments in housing and home rehabilitation. The Land Bank is working to acquire vacant and demolished properties and transform them into safe, stable housing. On the rehabilitation front, 456 housing units have been updated to date, helping preserve existing homes and strengthen the blocks around them.

To date, our amazing Evansville volunteers and partners have joined us across 12 Block-by-Block events. Together, we have collected over 180,000 pounds of trash, filled 326 potholes, cut more than 189 overgrown yards, and cleaned over 123 yards.  We've brought that work to neighborhoods across Evansville, from CHAIN and Lamasco to Tepe Park, Glenwood, Goosetown, Jacobsville, Stringtown and Howell.

And we've learned something important: when we focus people, partnerships and resources in one place, it works.

Today, more than $13.3 million in park improvements are underway or committed across Evansville, from renovations at the CK Newsome Center and new splash pads at Igleheart and Tepe parks to improvements at Wesselman Playground, Garvin Park, our golf courses, Swonder Ice Arena and CenterPoint Energy Square.

I'm proud of these investments because they're a visible sign of the progress we're making in the places people use every day.

And it's people coming together, like today, to take responsibility for the community we share.

We still have work ahead. We have more blighted properties to remove, more homes to build and rehabilitate, and more neighborhoods to reach through Block by Block.  But the progress is real.  One block at a time, we're building what matters.