The Rise of the East the Fall of the West

Evansville, Indiana, a mid size city, is slowly dying because of its small town philosophy. Evansville is a city of 115,738 people, in 2006, down 4.8% from 121,582, in 2000, a rapid decline of almost 5% in only six years. This is due to loss of many jobs including Evansville’s big name manufacturer Whirlpool; which is teetering on the verge of collapse. The only saving grace of Evansville is the diversified economy that is not dependent on manufacturing as a back bone of our economy, the biggest employer groups are sales and the service/medical industries, according to the 2000 census.

Even with a declining population, Evansville has one of the lowest unemployment rates of the state of Indiana. The state average is 9.9% unemployment with Vanderburgh County at only 8% unemployment. While Evansville has two major colleges, USI and UE, and a community college, Ivey Tech; the unemployment has very little to do with higher education. Evansville, the third largest city in Indiana, is failing to keep up with the two bigger cities as far as higher education is concerned.

As higher paying industrial jobs move out of Evansville the vacuum is filled with lower paying service jobs. This trend is leaving Evansville with one of the highest poverty rates, of a large city, in the state. Evansville has a 13.9% poverty rate which is higher than the Indiana average of 12.5%. If Evansville is to survive in the 21st century economy, more citizens will need at least a bachelor’s degree to bring higher paying jobs to the city. As our education level is now, only 16% of the population has a Bachelor’s degree or higher and the majority, 53%, only having a high school diploma or lower. There is no wonder why Evansville’s economic stability is based on lower paying jobs and not the higher education, high paying jobs. While all the citizens of Evansville cannot be doctors and lawyers, there needs to a radical move to get the population into the higher education system.

Local high schools, training students for higher education, often find themselves at odds over which schools have the highest SAT scores and best college placement numbers. The two catholic high schools, Memorial and Mater Dei, on the competing ends of Evansville constantly compare standardized test scores and the number of National Merit Scholarship recipients. The rivalry between the east and west continues to this day.

It is public knowledge that the western part of Evansville used to be a separate town named Lamasco. It was annexed by Evansville to much lament of the population of Lamasco, who wanted to remain independent of Evansville. The border, as it is sometimes called, is Pigeon Creek. On the Westside of Evansville they still hold on to the long gone pride of those days, as most Southerners still hold onto the dreams of the Confederacy. Some still see Pigeon Creek as a border line only to be crossed in extreme emergency. I grew up in a very rare family; both my parents grew up on the West side, but moved to the East side of Evansville. Both sets of my Grandparents scarcely came to visit us growing up. My Grandparents, whose families were some of the first French to populate Indiana in the late 1600’s, only cross Pigeon Creek to visit the hospital. This sense of a divided community is no more evident than when a Westside high school plays an Eastside high school in football. There is a bigger rivalry between the Eastside and Westside high schools than between Evansville and Newburgh high schools.

While the mythical battle of the East and West side rage, the center of Evansville is rotting from the inside out, like an apple with a decaying core. What is sometimes known as the Southside of Evansville, 47714, has the highest individual poverty level of 4,215 people nearly 1,000 more than any other area, zip code, of Evansville; like the city is waiting for the Ohio River to wash the rotting flesh of the Southside away.

There is a North side to Evansville also, like turtles they keep their heads in their shells and their money in their pockets, where we find our more affluent of Evansville citizenry the old money, high paying jobs, and their “I am not getting involved” attitude. Though culturally inept and lacking all but the basics in services of our city they remain there as the rot from the center, of Evansville, slowly creeps their way. The 47725 area code, the North side, has the lowest poverty rating in the county with only 91 individuals below the national poverty level. This allows our fellow citizens on the North side of Evansville live without a thought of the rest of the city.

As the center of Evansville rots into decay, we cannot over look the spreading and evolving far Eastside, 47715 zip code, where both the affluent end of the Lloyd Expressway and the prosperous Interstate 164 collide into a mass of steel, brick, and glass buildings. This is where you will find most of the upwardly mobile people in Evansville. The intersection of the Lloyd Expressway and I 164 boasts the premier shopping hub of the Tri-State area along with a brand new state of the art hospital and one of the most profitable Wal-marts in the United States of America. This central hub of commerce in Evansville is constantly devouring land that I remember as corn fields and farms. One interviewed farmer, when asked how he felt about his land being bought and turned into a business district, said “Now I farm some of the time and count my money the rest.”

This attitude reflects most of Evansville’s attitude on development of new property. Apparently instead of fixing the sewers of the Southside, 47714, we need a new stadium downtown. This project is another attempt to “revitalize” the downtown area like the Casino Aztar was supposed to do. Without any local teams, I see little advantage to a new multimillion dollar stadium. How much “revitalizing” can the downtown area get at the expense of the rest of the city?

Now this brings us to the far Westside and the USI boom area, 47712 area code. This is the failing Westside attempt to compete with the Lloyd/I-164 area. This area boasts a Super Wal-Mart, which USI students need, and a couple hotels, which we do not need except when parents come to visit, and many chain restaurants making it the jewel of the Westside. All is not well in the area though; this area still has the average of 2,438 individuals below the poverty level. The poverty level in this area is because of the areas high percentage of low paying service jobs brought to the area by the franchises of the local USI shopping center.

Evansville, Indiana is not a very ethnically diverse community. The total population of Evansville is 113,627 people with only a small minority base. There is an even smaller percentage of foreign born people in the Evansville area. Like most cities in the mid-west we are not a cultural melting pot.

Evansville was settled mostly by German immigrants and farmers. The city of Evansville still boasts a large percentage of people claiming German roots. Even now 31.1% of the population still maintain their German heritage. German Americans are followed loosely by both Irish and English Americans at 13.4% and 10.6% respectively. There is also the group of 17,145 people who claimed to be of American ancestry, 15.1% of Evansville, I believe these people did not understand the ancestry question on the US Census form at all; this goes back to education and higher learning or the lack of it.

There is also a very small percentage of Italian Americans in the Evansville area; only 1.7% or a total of 1,960 people. This is why I cannot get a decent Seafood Alfredo and the only Mafia influence in Evansville is The House of Como on Kentucky Ave and I-164, which is rumored to not only be Italian Mafia owned, but to also have the best steak in Evansville. I believe this rumor is perpetuated by the other rumor that The House of Como only takes cash.

The foreign born population of Evansville is only 2,464 people or 2.2% of the total population. With only one good Indian Restaurant, The Taste of India, it makes it hard to get a decent ethnic meal other than the run of the mill oriental buffet. Evansville would benefit culturally from a more diverse population that would bring realism to the limited mindset of the population.

Evansville is a unique if undiversified city. What it lacks in ethnical diversity it makes up for in personality and history. With the largest none costal shipyard, during WW II, to the unique art displayed downtown by local artist in the warm summer months. Evansville also boasts many famous people from Don Mattingly, a baseball player, to Ruth Siems, the inventor of Stove Top Stuffing. In Evansville it has been my experience that we take the good with the bad and everything in between. This is a city I was not excited to come home to, but it was home none the less.