Kokomo is seeing a 13 acre site along Wildcat Creek developed into a new duplex community, a runway extension at the airport and a new soccer league.
On this week's installment of Ask The Mayor, Mayor Greg Goodnight addresses these issues and more. Listen to the full conversation with Indiana Newsdesk anchor Joe Hren by clicking on the play button above, or read some of the questions and answers below.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Hren: I drove in past Municipal Stadium and noticed some new lines and equipment on the field that didn't look like baseball. Looks like the new stadium is getting more use than just baseball.
Goodnight: When we designed the stadium, we made it so you could play regulation soccer and we've had some high school soccer games, but the big announcement is we are going to have a Premier Development League it is a developmental league. It's been around for over 22 years, 31 states have a team, there are 6 teams from Canada and we'll be part of that league next year. And they have a name the team contest right now.
Hren: We talk a lot about transportation in this state, especially lately the Hoosier State Rail Line and roads and bridges, but here the local airport is expanding runways. Is that another way to spur economic development here?
Goodnight: Yeah, this is a project that has been worked on for about 12 years. Different phases, they had to acquisition property, some zoning issues, lots of different government agencies came into play on this project and finally complete. This is a nice draw for our community.
Hren: I saw a headline in the Kokomo Tribune that said Kokomo is one of the more affordable places to live. We just talked about more housing being built, does that mean there is too much residential areas in the area?
Goodnight: No, I don't think so. I think really what I always stress is we need every option. There are some cities in Indiana that have marketed themselves to the affluent people. And there are some geared maybe to college towns and there are what we want to be. We want housing for young students, seniors that may be retiring and we want to keep them here, but we also want housing for those in between.
