In this Oct. 23, 2014 photo, an abandoned building stands across the street from the bustling grain elevator in downtown Danville, Ill. Many young people have moved away as manufacturers that provided thousands of well-paying, middle class jobs have closed, but the city is working to attract businesses and give residents a reason to stay. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)DANVILLE, Ill. (AP) – This Illinois city already was struggling when Tara Holycross and her friends were kids riding their bikes to Custard Cup, swimming at the park district pool and hanging out in the Wendy’s parking lot.
Manufacturers that provided thousands of well-paying, middle class jobs – General Motors, General Electric, Hyster – were closing. Neighborhoods were crumbling. By the time Holycross graduated from high school in 2004, a city best known for its massive downtown grain elevator and as the hometown of actors Dick and Jerry Van Dyke was scrambling to create new opportunities.
Ten years later, this city of 32,500 still is struggling. But Holycross and some of her classmates are doing just fine – because they moved.
They’re doctors and athletic trainers, software specialists and financial advisers. They’re living all over the country – from Chicago to Charleston, South Carolina, to Boulder, Colorado – where they found solid jobs that reward the kind of education they have. Though still early in their careers, they’ve surpassed Danville’s median household income of $35,000 and expect to do much better. Holycross and four classmates interviewed said about half of their class of fewer than 50 left town, and those they’re in touch with landed good positions.
In this Oct. 23, 2014 photo, a woman walks past businesses in downtown in Danville, Ill., where there still are many vacant buildings. Many young people have moved away as manufacturers that provided thousands of well-paying, middle class jobs have closed, but the city is working to attract new businesses and give residents a reason to stay. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)“I knew there wasn’t an opportunity for me to have my career” in Danville, said Holycross, 28, a third-generation native who now works as an athletic trainer for a hospital system in Beloit, Wisconsin, about 90 miles northwest of Chicago.