Policy Radio| Karen Freeman-Wilson’s Blueprint for Gary

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Karen Freeman-Wilson is the mayor of Gary, Indiana. A native of Gary and the city’s first female mayor, Mayor Freeman-Wilson has spearheaded an all-out effort to reinvent Gary, a city brought to its knees by the decline of heavy industry in the Midwestern United States. With the goal of bringing economic prosperity back into the city, Freeman-Wilson has established a partnership with former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and the University of Chicago to explore opportunities for economic development and growth. The resulting projects constitute part of a plan she calls the Blueprint for Gary, which aims to develop the city’s economy, increase public safety, and polish the city’s image in order to revive the great American city that Gary, Indiana once was.

This week on Chicago Policy Radio, Jim Howes sits down with Mayor Freeman-Wilson to talk about her tenure as Gary’s mayor so far and the progress the city has made recently.

Please check out CPR’s interview with Mayor Freeman-Wilson following her 2011 election and with former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley on the partnership he helped foster between the City of Gary and the University of Chicago.

Feature Photo:cc/(Marc Tarlock)