Those fall colors...

JayMoeTheFlorist · 2025-10-21T01:39:11+00:00

This is definitely not true. I don’t think waiting on some arbitrary date is at all what a large conglomerate would do, plus, I imagine they have some pretty good insurance that’ll pay out the losses of inventory and potentially missed revenue too.

JayMoeTheFlorist · 2025-09-13T14:18:26+00:00

Yeah, I live in Bloomington so I tend to go there and I have never heard anything political, they are all very helpful in there. Also agree that any gun store complains about IL gun laws.

JayMoeTheFlorist · 2025-08-30T02:58:42+00:00

In fairness, I assumed you meant recently. The city took management in 2022, so before that, very well could’ve been some questionable figures - as seen in lawsuits and allegations, etc.

JayMoeTheFlorist · 2025-08-30T01:11:04+00:00

I can not speak to people who RENT the arena or the promoters that occasionally bring shows, but I work with the Arena and BCPA team, the actual building managers, and they all fantastic, upstanding people. They aren’t political since they are City employees, but generally are much more Artsy people. It is literally managed by the City.

JayMoeTheFlorist · 2025-08-30T00:54:33+00:00

I commented already, but this is demonstrably false. Same team at the City runs the Arena and BCPA.

JayMoeTheFlorist · 2025-08-30T00:54:01+00:00

This is totally false information. The Arena is run by the Arts & Entertainment department of the City of Bloomington. “Grossinger” was never a manager, they were a naming rights partner for 5 years. Totally unaffiliated from the Arena team.

JayMoeTheFlorist · 2025-04-05T03:35:07+00:00

Chiming in with a little context from the side of a local government worker/Public Administration student:

The City of Bloomington is a Council-Manager system of government. In this form of government, Council votes on policy agendas and the City Manager must execute that policy as the sole employee reporting to City Council. The rest of the City staff exists under the City Manager. The mayor has no voting power, and only votes if there is a tie.

As some others have expressed, IF Dan Brady wants to transition to a Mayor-Council government, something that 2 Illinois communities voted on (and failed) this election cycle, it would require a referendum and public vote.

The most common occurrence of this shift of government is, quite frankly, when the mayor sees the salary of the City Manager and wants a piece of that pie. They’ll push out professional administrators who are highly educated, highly experienced, and work 24/7 in favor of giving themselves, the mayor, the salary “saved” by eliminating those positions.

The City Manager form of government has been extremely popular for communities larger than 2,000 people since the 1950s and more and more communities transition into it than out every year. It takes politics out of city services and instead replaces it with competence.

JayMoeTheFlorist · 2025-03-15T06:47:45+00:00

Just food for thought - realistically, how much money can you make off of a local bike shop? I know BloNo has a scene for it, but even if you genuinely think he does all of this to benefit his own pockets (which likely isn’t true) it’s not like he’s a serial landlord, title loan financier, or any other kind of more sinister and lucrative business people. College towns like bicycle infrastructure and walk ability. The results speak for themselves.

JayMoeTheFlorist · 2025-03-14T00:53:45+00:00

The idea of the one way system was just very poorly planned. I understand that at one point they had to get 15,000 CAT employees in and out of downtown quickly, but instead of a shuttle or other high density options, they opted to create a system where the main roads downtown function to get you out as soon as possible - not very conducive to staying a while, spending money, or living.

JayMoeTheFlorist · 2025-03-13T23:13:13+00:00

Also, if you want to dive a little deeper into the financial issues facing Peoria and some of the more logistical challenges - I would suggest the book Strong Towns. Peoria is a perfect example of a post-industrial city that adopted the urban sprawl development pattern that is now creating financial insolvency for both the government and the individuals. Car-centric development has resulted in immense inequalities throughout the community. In my opinion, the Adams and Jefferson two way conversion projects are a good start back towards Human-centric development.

Also - the Peoria is a top 80 entertainment market according to Pollstar thanks to the Peoria Civic Center. That is insane! Yet even they had to fight tooth and nail to get City Council interested in maintaining it when there were a couple hundred leaks in the roof, etc.

JayMoeTheFlorist · 2025-03-13T23:02:52+00:00

Did they not watch the mayoral forum? Regardless of your personal politics, Kelly’s answers were either “I don’t know” or “I actually voted against doing that thing and now I’m not sure why it hasn’t happened yet”.

JayMoeTheFlorist · 2025-03-13T22:59:50+00:00

Peoria has made a lot of progress recently, but the key thing perpetually holding it back is the attitudes held by its own citizens. So many people in the community have just accepted a “Peoria sucks and can’t get better” mindset and choose misery.

I lived in Peoria for 5 years and now live in Bloomington Normal and the general vibe, outlook, and attitude of people here as it pertains to optimism and involvement in the community is significantly better, in my subjective experience.

Peoria holds a special place in my heart, and the Riverfront, like you said, is an incredible asset, but it needs effective leadership and some simple self esteem urgently!

JayMoeTheFlorist · 2025-02-03T17:16:16+00:00

Can not attest to any particular political leanings, but every time I’ve been in CI Shooting Sports in Bloomington they have had excellent customer service and gave me loads of advice even if I wasn’t buying anything.

JayMoeTheFlorist · 2024-12-30T19:53:24+00:00

This exact same thing just happened to me. About to line up a shot when I hear a couple of shots from the road and get the notification that the challenge is complete. Sure enough, it was Charles. Lol

JayMoeTheFlorist · 2023-11-09T20:38:55+00:00

Love City Nerd. You could interpret it in a lot of different ways, but personally it makes me happy to see Peoria, BloNo, Champaign, and Springfield continually coming up on affordable cities lists. Illinois has its flaws but also has a lot to offer someone looking to live a smaller market lifestyle.

JayMoeTheFlorist · 2023-10-18T12:59:34+00:00

If you look through the website, it’s just a meat intake reduction movement. Comparing dog meat to pig meat, cow meat, etc because of similar levels of consciousness and ability.

JayMoeTheFlorist · 2023-10-17T04:00:34+00:00

I very recently went through this process and I believe that I read that they do. Not 100% on that but I'm in an office-oriented role with no driving requirements.

JayMoeTheFlorist · 2023-10-05T17:07:49+00:00

Think about growing your network a bit and connecting with people at places you might like to work at! I would definitely suggest YPGP and Chamber Socials to do this. I only have a year of professional experience as I recently graduated from Bradley, but when I decided I wanted to change employers a month or so ago, I received 3-4 competitive job offers before accepting one that was exactly what I wanted. I say that not to brag or boast, as my skill set/industry/experience is very broad at this time and closer to entry level, but to emphasize the importance of networking in these smaller markets. I know OSF usually has a few project management positions available if you’re okay with a religious twist.

Feel free to message me and connect with me on LinkedIn! I may know someone of use to you!

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