It used to be everyone knew everyone else, and chances were good you were related somehow. A subtle change in many people's minds, but a change. Residents still wave to passing cars, even if they don't always know who is driving them. They have seen a decline in the rural economy, a population that is usually older than the state average and, in many cases, a lack of jobs to entice people back,'' Betty Steinert, Whiteside County Economic Development director said. There isn't that sense of extended family.
People move to town and it makes a difference.
Maybe we need to learn what to do with it. Maybe there is a bright future for the town that figures out what the opportunities are to being a bedroom community. I think there are real retail opportunities here that could be taken advantage of.'' Many small towns have lost their identity with the loss of their business areas and downtowns. Becky Bradley, Illinois Main Street representative, said the program was created to help small towns keep their unique retail identity, largely through helping them diversify their business through historic preservation and helping create a market niche. East Moline, Galesburg, Savanna, Cambridge, as well as Prophetstown and nearly 50 other towns across the state have all worked with Main Street in an attempt to fight a trend of decline.