Barnett Director of Metro Development

Making Evansville a better place to live is one of Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfels goals. To help do that, hes added a new member of his team--Tom Barnett--as the new Metro Development Director. Barnett spent the last 14 years in Paducah working to revive its downtown, he does it one neighborhood at a time. One of those neighborhoods is Lowertown. A few years ago, Barnett says it was full of drug houses and prostitutes, but thats no longer the case. A project, known as the Artist Relocation Project turned the neighborhood into an urban hot-spot full of culture, art and beauty. Ways of turning neighborhoods around: Paducah bought some of the properties, then gave them away, under the condition the recipient would invest, and turn the property around in a given time frame. Incentives for homeowners followed, and volunteer groups used to renovate lower income homes. That was followed by support like rehabs of old buildings, and new residential properties. Now these neighborhoods are going for three times what they were a few years ago. Barnett hopes his plan will work here, and help restore some of Evansville downtown neighborhoods into the kinds of place youd want to live. Barnett begins his position with the city next month.