 Parking is one of the few public systems that people judge one trip at a time. Find a space near your destination, and the system barely registers. Circle the block twice, get a ticket or fight with a payment app, and suddenly Bloomington has a parking crisis.
I spent four years on the now-defunct City of Bloomington Parking Commission. My experience is that downtown parking is generally available and reasonably priced. Someone who has spent 15 minutes searching for a space may reasonably see things differently. Individual experiences quickly become conclusions about the entire system. The City’s new parking study offers another chance to compare those perceptions with actual usage—and to consider parking as public infrastructure supporting workers, businesses and development. A parking problem, or a convenience problem? More than 1,500 people responded to the study’s survey. 55 percent said they usually find an on-street space within five minutes. 44 percent said Bloomington’s rates are comparable to other communities, while another 32 percent said they are lower. Those responses present a calmer picture than the public debate often suggests (Walker Consultants, 2026). The listening sessions were less reassuring. Participants associated parking with fines, hassle, and confusion. Downtown businesses said some customers assume parking will be difficult and choose another destination. Broken equipment, enforcement and limited awareness of cheaper garage spaces also came up repeatedly. Both experiences can exist within the same system. Garage spaces may be available while every curb space beside a restaurant is occupied. Bloomington can have enough parking overall while particular blocks reach capacity at certain hours. Perception also carries an economic cost. A customer who expects downtown parking to be difficult may never make the trip. An occupancy report produced afterward does not recover the visit. Better signage, visible garage entrances and clearer information may improve the experience as much as another rate adjustment.
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 Communities do not compete simply with tax rates or incentives anymore. They compete on whether people believe they can get things done.
Government exists to protect the public. We agree with that old saying. But protecting the public should not mean making it unnecessarily difficult to invest in our community. Government at its best creates confidence. It sets clear expectations, applies standards consistently, and helps people find a path to compliance. It opens doors instead of putting up barriers. That is why the Bloomington Chamber welcomes the City's response to the independent audit of its development review and permitting process. The report confirms what applicants—large and small—have experienced for years: inconsistent reviews, conflicting direction between departments, long timelines, and a process that often felt unpredictable. More importantly, it offers practical ways to improve it. These conversations have found their way to the Chamber for years. We have collaborated with a local entrepreneur trying to open an emergency veterinary hospital, where months of delay meant the community waited longer for the service it needed. We have also seen a homeowner's accessory dwelling unit become caught in an extended review despite supporting the City's own housing goals. We have heard from business owners renovating existing buildings who went through round after round of comments without a clear understanding of what was required to move forward. None of this was ever about avoiding regulations. It was about understanding them.  The collapse of the North Park proposal was not just a fight over one piece of land. It was the clearest sign yet of a larger Monroe County problem: local government is struggling to deliver major public projects.
The proposed Justice Center has moved through years of studies, committees, site reviews, consultant reports, litigation deadlines, public meetings, political reversals, and failed votes. Yet Monroe County still lacks a site, a final scope, a clear cost model, and a durable coalition to move the project forward. The concern is bigger than one site. It is whether local government can execute, collaborate, explain the costs, weigh the tradeoffs, and maintain public trust. North Park may be dead as a site. The governing problems that led to its collapse are not. The Present: The Commissioners Kept Returning with the Same Failed Proposal The commissioners’ North Park strategy failed on both political and practical grounds: they kept returning with the same proposal after it was clear the votes were not there. The County Council rejected North Park in October and again in May. On May 26, it voted 1–6 against approval and then 6–0 to deny the ordinance outright. That second vote was not hesitation. It was institutional rejection.  I was in the room last week when the Bloomington City Council voted to delay — again — on the Hopewell South Planned Unit Development. And honestly? I left frustrated. Not because I think the project is perfect. It isn’t. But because this community keeps asking the wrong question.
We’re not refining anymore. We’re stalling. And there’s a cost to that. The real question sitting in front of Bloomington right now is simple: Do we want this project — and the housing and economic activity it brings — or don’t we? My father used to say, "No, is a perfectly good answer". The Risk Is Real: We Could Lose This Project Every delay, every new round of requirements, every additional condition stacked onto this petition pushes the project closer to a breaking point. At some stage, the Administration and the Redevelopment Commission may conclude it’s no longer viable. The petition gets withdrawn. The site sits. Meanwhile, the private market doesn’t wait. It keeps delivering large-scale, by-right multifamily developments — with less public input, less intentional design, and fewer community benefits. So we’d be trading a thoughtful, mixed-use, community-oriented project for more of the same. Not because the market forced our hand, but because we couldn’t align on a path forward. Hopewell has been underutilized since 2018. At what point is delay no longer a strategy — it’s just an answer?  Execution, Discipline, and Getting the Basics Right
Over the past eight years at the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, I’ve worked alongside businesses, community leaders, and elected officials through periods of both momentum and uncertainty. As the Mayor prepares to deliver the State of the City address on March 31st, Bloomington faces a series of decisions that will shape its trajectory for decades. The question is no longer whether we understand the challenges—it is whether we are prepared to act on them with the urgency and discipline they require. When I first stepped into this role, Bloomington was moving forward—investment was steady, confidence was high, and while challenges existed, the trajectory pointed upward. Today, that trajectory feels less certain. This is not a statement of decline. It is a recognition that we are at an inflection point—and how we respond in the next 12 to 24 months will shape Bloomington’s economic future for years to come.  I attend nearly every meeting of the Bloomington City Council — not because I enjoy long evenings under fluorescent lights, but because what happens in that room determines whether Bloomington builds, adapts, competes, or stalls. The business community deserves a voice at that table.
Increasingly, I leave with the same uneasy insight: we are debating process with more intensity than we are debating outcomes. Process matters. Legislative integrity matters. But when procedure becomes the main event, momentum fades — and momentum is something Bloomington cannot afford to lose. Wednesday Night: A Vote About Whether to Move Forward The Council voted 7–2 not to introduce the ordinance for the Hopewell South housing phase. This was not an outright rejection — several councilmembers made clear they support the development in concept. But the ordinance was stopped before first reading. Concerns centered on document clarity, agenda timing, and whether the item felt "fully baked." Councilmember Piedmont-Smith put it directly: she called it a good project, but said no one would be helped by rushing it. These are not unserious objections. Precision matters. But so does timing.  On October 12th, 2022, city councilmembers voted unanimously to approve the mayor's proposed budget for the 2023 year. Last year's Economic Development Local Income Tax (ED-LIT) rate increase helped to expand the city's combined budget to 228.5 million dollars, a 28 percent increase from last year's 178-million-dollar budget. Under the requirements of the ED-LIT additional funds were allocated to areas like city services and workforce investments, climate change preparedness and mitigation as well as equity and quality of life for all.
The biggest topic of discussion that night, however, was the five percent salary increase to American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) employees. Members of this labor union argued that this percent increase is not enough to meet higher costs of living. Negotiations between the city and AFSCME are still ongoing despite the budget's approval. To read more about Mayor John Hamilton's 2023 proposed budget, click HERE.  The City Council unanimously approved to move forward in the first part to designate the Catalent expansion as a revitalization area. Final approval of the tax abatement in exchange for $350 million in investment and 1,000 new jobs will be on March 2nd after a public hearing. Bloomington is competing with Louisville, Madison, and Kansas City. $10 million of this investment will be to develop real property. The Real property would be abated at a rate of 50 percent a year for 10 years, while the larger portion is the personal property, which is 90 percent for 20 years. The impact of the abatement on TIF revenue would not be significant as it is calculated on real property but not personal. The Impact on COB revenue would not be significant. Local taxes are collected is based on the City’s budget. The abatement does not reduce total revenue on a dollar-for-dollar basis, but rather spreads that loss to the other taxpayers. Where the issue comes is how close we are to the state-restricted CAPS which puts a levy on the amount a tax can go up. According to the the City’s Alex Crowley does not believe it will be an issue. The main reservation from the Council was housing, where are these people going to live? Currently, half of Catalent’s 3,212 workforce lives outside the county which Monroe County reaps no financial benefit from. Get involved, contact your City Council representative to voice your opinion.  The City of Bloomington will offer free street parking downtown and in city garages from Thursday, Nov. 25 through Sunday, Nov. 28 in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday and to support downtown businesses. Parking will be free on the following days throughout the holiday season:
 Habitat for Humanity's Osage Place. At its Nov. 15 meeting, the Bloomington Plan Commission approved the next step in the Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County's Osage Place development. The approval related to 5.34 acres for 30 residential houses and three common areas. The site is located at 650 W. Guy Avenue and is part of a larger 12.5-acre project there.
Construction has already begun and the first houses are expected to be completed by early 2022. Watch the Plan Commission discussion on CATS here. Read the proposal from the meeting packet here. |
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