How Gary Townmakers’ Initiatives Work in Tandem With An “Old-School Comeback” Strategy

A November 4, 2025, Bloomberg article entitled, Can Anyone Save Gary Indiana?, frames Gary’s revival around thoughtful growth, small-developer empowerment, adaptive reuse, narrative change, and community-rooted planning. This is EXACTLY the space where Gary Townmakers live, and below is a breakdown of the article’s core ideas paired with how our work is a force multiplier.

The City Is Moving Toward “Thoughtful Growth”

→ Townmaker LABS = The hands-on training hub that delivers THAT growth.

The theme: Gary is shifting from chasing big outside projects to supporting smaller, practical, incremental redevelopment. The goal is to attract small developers, activate vacant parcels, and rebuild blocks, lot by lot.

How Gary Townmakers fits:

• Our LABS teach residents, investors, entrepreneurs, and small developers how to activate those small, neighborhood-level opportunities.

• We turn inexperienced locals into capable micro-developers aligned with the city’s vision.

• Our infill development focus mirrors the city’s goals for practical, doable projects.

In short, the city has set a policy direction. Gary Townmakers is building capacity to carry it out.

Gary Wants Incremental, Block-by-Block Wins

→ Gary Townmakers organizes the teams who can deliver those wins.

Progress will come from:

• Rehabbing xx single-family homes

• Building new climate-resilient, energy-efficient housing.

• Cleaning up parcels for reactivation.

• Activating neighborhoods one block at a time.

• Restoring confidence through visible action.

Gary Townmakers' impact:

• Our Townmaker LABS teaches how to identify residential and commercial “starter projects”, the type of visible wins the community needs to restore trust.

• Our GreenRoots Initiative teaches how to identify sites in need of environmental remediation and connect owners with the resources for clean up and reinvestment

• Our community-driven approach means residents become catalysts AND participants, not just observers.

We create pipelines of:

• Neighborhood parcel scouts. 

• Local developers.

• Redevelopment partnerships and task teams.

• Local contractor collaborations.

We turn “incremental wins” into a repeatable neighborhood playbook.

Redevelopment Partners Are Needed at Every Level

→ Gary Townmakers becomes the on-ramp for future developers and investment partners.

The theme: Gary needs more small developers, period. The pipeline is thin, big developers are not coming to save us, and outside investors don’t always understand local dynamics.

Our alignment: With a grant from the Knight Foundation and xxx in 2023, Gary Townmakers was the first to offer small-scale developer training and create a homegrown developer pipeline supported by Incremental Development Alliance and Neighborhood Evolution. Residents are learning: 

• Parcel research and assembly.

• Legal due diligence.

• Site planning and zoning. 

• Budgeting and cost estimating.

• Community alignment.

• Complementary building design.

• To build local ownership, increase buy-in, and decrease displacement.

We are working to solve one of the biggest gaps the article highlights: not enough trained, capable local players.

The Narrative of Gary Must Change

→ Gary Townmakers is a storytelling engine AND proof of progress.

The theme: Perception is Gary’s biggest enemy. The city must rewrite its story to attract investment and rebuild confidence.

Our alignment:

• Every project we champion or shepherd becomes a living testimonial:  “Look what’s happening in Gary, and look who’s doing it — our own people.”

• Active projects, before/after photos, resident testimonials, and parcel success stories; these change the narrative.

• We are creating a visual and emotional record of progress.

Gary Townmakers = storytelling + transformation + visible motion.

Adaptive Reuse + Practical Solutions Are the Future

→ Gary Townmakers teaches the “how” behind adaptive reuse opportunities.

The theme: The City of Gary is working with Notre Dame on adaptive reuse, cleanup, and focused regeneration.

Our alignment: Our LABS and workshops show residents how to:

• Spot undervalued blocks and underused buildings.

• Evaluate site viability.

• Assess, test for, and remediate environmental contaminants.

• Ideate adaptive reuse concepts.

• Repurpose or elevate existing assets when possible.

• Our checklists and tools align perfectly with the city’s regeneration framework.

We operationalize the design principles the article highlights.

Gary Needs Resident Buy-In More Than Anything

→ Gary Townmakers is a buy-in strategy.

Article theme: Success depends on trust in public institutions, community belief that change is possible, and visible short-term wins. 

Our advantage: 

• We work at the block level, engaging residents and business owners face-to-face.

• We are community-led, building leadership from the bottom up.

• We are a trusted neighbor with the right mission of promoting equitable development that displaces extractive development.

We are creating the methodologies, blueprints, and civic muscle memory required for a sustainable turnaround.

Gary Has Land, Location, and Opportunity, But Needs Connectors

→ Gary Townmakers IS an ecosystem for connection.

Article theme: Gary’s assets include proximity to Chicago, the shoreline of Lake Michigan, the Indiana Dunes, and massive land inventory. However, this is not enough without individuals and organizations to effectively align assets, opportunities, and resources towards self-efficacy and growth. 

Gary Townmakers attracts:

• Developers and funders looking for projects. 

• Nonprofits, CBOs, and residents seeking land and development partners. 

• Investors looking for opportunities. 

• Locals looking to be empowered. 

• Government agencies seeking community partnerships. 

We are making the introductions that the article says the city cannot make fast enough.

Our Movement Is Exactly What the Comeback Needs

We are a “middle engine” that is turning residents into developers, ideas into actionable plans, and underutilized assets into neighborhood catalysts.

Our work is what will make the comeback real.