Tyler’s Dice Roll: Downtown and Department making downtown Plainfield a better place to visit

Tyler Riojas, Staff Writer

Welcome back to another edition of Jackson’s Dice Roll, where we use textfixer.com’s random word generator and turn those two words into an opinion piece. Except this time, I, Tyler Riojas, will be continuing Jackson’s legacy. And the words that I have rolled are Downtown and Department.
If you’ve ever driven through downtown Plainfield, you probably know there’s not a whole heck of a lot there. Whereas places such as Naperville, Romeoville, and Joliet have excellent areas full of stores and parks for everyone to enjoy.
Rather than wasting little bits of money here and there beginning projects with no end, why not just put it somewhere that it will gain more revenue?
If Plainfield were to invest our money into expanding a better downtown area, it would give kids and teenagers a place to go and not just have fun. They can make memories. As a kid myself, I fondly remember my select few trips to Naperville and Joliet where I got to see new stores and buildings.
Now are a couple of good memories worth millions of dollars? To state officials and governors, probably not. But improving our downtown area would also improve our economy. By turning our little old town into an attraction, more people will come in and see what Plainfield has to offer. Then all those empty houses in the area will be turned into forever homes for families and generations to come.
According to Taxfoundation.org, roughly 35% of revenue is made through property tax, and another 35% through sales and gross receipts tax. By expanding our downtown, we will be investing in the improvement of 70% of all our revenue. More and more business will come in, bringing more and more visitors, leading into more housing purchases.
This is by no means a quick fix money solution, rather a long-term investment project. By setting aside a finite amount of funds for the expansion of our downtown, we will be creating a better future here in our town for generations to come.