I, too, agree, Rocky.. The doomsayers are shortsighted.

Rockyjr thank you common sense prevails

I lived in Kenosha when the Chrysler plant ceased auto production. Everyone there thought Kenosha would become a ghost town. Nope; didn't happen. Sometime after auto production ceased, Chrysler decided that the Kenosha factory would be an excellent place to build engines; and they did for quite some time. The buildings are currently being demolished as I write this. 30+ square blocks in the center of the city being leveled. Chrysler is paying for any clean up to be done.
Gray_ghost, you really think it will cost BILLIONS to clean up the GM plant? Really? No way. A couple of million maybe, but billions, no. And if there would be water 8 feet below the plant, it would have become a sink hole years ago. You should try being a little more realistic.
Kenosha is doing ok, and by the way, I've lived here in JVL for about 3 1/2 years now and I love Sam's Pizza.

I am pretty much in agreement with
Eagle1's first post.
Janesville is still a good town with a lot of real possibilities.
I take my share of shots at the city council, and will continue to do so, but they can not do it entirely on their own.
We need more positive ACTION, not just talk like the Forward Janesville stuff.
I do think Janesville will continue to grow and prosper, but it is not going to happen overnight, and as stated below, GM and their great paying jobs are long gone...time go accept that and move on.

Is the Rock county Glass half Full or empty? A small but vocal minority predicted years ago the glass would be bone dry and Rock County would perish or worse. The fact is recovery takes time and starts slow but before you realize it life is getting better for everyone in Rock County. So Yes, Be optimistic about Rock County tempered with realism and patience.

Good work to all those working the trenches to bring prosperity back to this area.

Optimism isn't possible with all of those nasty litter-bugs around town.

Now that Toyota has re-taken the top spot from GM, maybe they will start making Camrys in Janesville - cross your fingers!

"Don't worry another GM article coming soon!"
lol- imagine that- in the Sunday 27th paper!!

JANESVILLE has become not the "City of Parks" but the City of Alcoholics & Druggies"

Janesville started improving the day GM closed the plant. It will be many years before the rest of the country forgives us for putting the unforgivable fleet of gas-guzzlers out there, but that time will come and Janesville will have a legacy of some kind instead of it's current infamy.

I don't live there, I live in the area. There sure are a lot of whiners in janesville, it is sort of comical. Thanks for that, humor is essential to a quality life. I still see the same rudeness and nose up in the air attitude from so many in Janesville. I chuckle at that and say to myself, "Who do these people think they are?" As long as nothing happens to Farm and Fleet, my care meter is pretty much stuck on zero. However, I do contribute to a couple of charities in Janesville, the ones that help those who are down and out, or nearly there.

Janesville will turn into lil Rockford , were half way their now , Just a matter of time now , how that for optimism ?

When i need a good laugh, this is alwys a good place to start. Janesville? Booming? if it was i would be back home with my wife and kids. I've seen no real evidence of that except to see a lot of burger flipping jobs and a couple small companies relocate. I've seen more businesses close i think than what janesville has gained because no one is stepping up to promote the city. i wish someone would.
as for the plant, wahoo_35 is right. the plant is STILL on stand by. how long? who knows. there are to be several announcements the next month to 6 weeks with reguard to adding shifts AND capacity for GM to build its vehicles. first an article from this very paper:

http://www.gazettextra.com/news/2011/sep...

keep in mind this is from 2011. the day after i had to transfer to my new facility from here.now take a look at a recent article from detroit free press:

http://www.freep.com/article/20130117/BU...

the numbers Dr Cole are talking about are coming very close. Will the plant reopen? who knows i'm still not holding my breath. i hope it does tho. right now, i really don't see any "booming" janesville or i would be back home now.

Don't worry another GM article coming soon!

So tired of these moronic GM discussions, GM was a wonderful employer who paid more than a livable wage at the expense of the human body. Worthwhile trade considering many of these other local parasitic companies feeding off the misery of the unemployed.
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With that said I have met some wonderful folk since working in Janesville and certainly not the anti-gm, anti-worker anti-happiness folks who comment on here all to frequently.
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GM will return again someday and I realize many of you bash the company because when they left they took part of your lively hood or you refuse to believe that they will return for fear of being let down again. Welcome them back with open arms, embrace the type of change Rock County needs, all working together to compete against countries with unfair labor practices, currency manipulation and rampant corruption.
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For those that want to debate GM Janesville's future educate yourselves on corporate bankruptcy in relation to federal super fund cleanup sites. Now check this: http://www.racertrust.org/Properties/Pro...
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Do some more research, learn about Google Syntax search queries: http://www.googleguide.com/using_advance...
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The truth is out there even if under the surface. Nothings certain in life or on the internet however, there is a lot of commercial real-estate out there cheap, I would submit almost free in Michigan.

Wahoo how could GM start up the plant if it is so poluted as marge and some of the other bloggers say it is, how about that marge would you go back to work there? I can't see GM spending billions to clean it up first.

it would cost billons of dollars, to clean up the gm site. lead paint, contaminated soil, just to name a few issues. the area sits on a swamp,dig a hole, anywhere on site, instant water at 8ft, below grade.

With companies like SSI and Freedom Graphics victimizing temp workers by forcing them to work long hours for minimal pay with the promise of being "hired in", its hard to really have optimism with Rock County. Temp Workers in this county who have to work factory jobs are often treated unfairly in ways that one would THINK would be unconstitutional. Not every temp worker in Rock County is a drug addict or a lower form of society and we do have some honest and sincere hard workers in our community.

We need to crack down on these factorys and companies that rely on temp workers "coming and going" from the jobsite because of unfair work environments, unfair wages and Supervisors who pray on and make it so that a temp worker will want to quit. Temp Workers are not expandable human beings. They are American looking for an honest living and a company that cares enough about them to invest in them.

SSI and Freedom Graphics, I'm talking about you.

When GM finally relinquishes that site, it would be ideal for a man made lake.

Water slides from the VFW hill...Lazy river rafting to the Kiwanis ponds...and a motorboat canal to the Rock River.

The trouble is...Janesburg has no businessmen with the nads of Ken Hendricks.

But, here is Diane's golden opportunity to get out from his shadow.
And I don't mean that in a negative way at all.

It's just that in the Hendricks tradition...Ken never saw an opportunity he didn't embrace.

The GM plant is not closed, it's on stand by status! It is not a matter of if it goes back into production, but when. That is what we should all be optimistic about. As far as that pizza, we tried it, had a couple slices and the take home box did not even make it to the car. We threw in the first trash can we could find.

As exposed in "As Goes Janesville," the "ambassadors of optimism" were self-appointed spokespersons who divided our community by hitching their wagons to the Walker machine and excluding labor in a long-range community plan.
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When our community most needed unity, the PR ambassadors alienated teacher, public workers, union workers, and democrats. The hypocrisy of the whole thing is that Janesville was built and grown on union-fought-for wages.
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The very definition of community involves common ownership. As proven in the recent local elections that rejected Walker, Ryan, and Knilans--the one voice of Rock 5.0 is the voice of a minority group.
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Optimism starts from the ground up. Let's start over and bring all of Janesville together in a comprehensive community building plan.

Also--i was hard trim most of my years but started up in paint on the seal line. Maybe I know you.

Oh and by the way oldtimer--they were still pouring gas and paint down the floor drains when I was hired--they were old.

oldtimer--I have also retired from GM and grew up on delavan dr. straight across--still don't think the taxpayers of janesville should foot the bill of clean up.

oldtimer, well stated, thank you for that post.

The city will not do anything because they got there head in the sand and think GM is coming back, and they must get a little tax money on that property, I would like to know how much. Marge, I think the city should give GM an ultimate do something with the property or give it to the city, I worked there 33 years, it may not be as polluted as you think, samples should be taken to find out. If the city gets it then I would work with J P Cullen a great company here in Janesville they are very civic minded and along with other brains in the city go from there, do something and turn it into revenue for the city. I have other ideas also. The city must know something we don't and I thing they should come out and tell us the truth. If the gazette had any reporters they would dig into this and find out.

Industrial Strength Pizza has apparently deleted their FB page, so I'd say they closed. I liked the pizza but it wasn't the best I'd ever had, either, and there are certainly less expensive alternatives in town. I think it was a bold attempt to reboot the Metropolitan, which certainly wasn't doing particularly well if traffic is any judge.
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Eagle1, I tend to agree with you that GM is both a problem and an opportunity, but we just can't do anything about it yet. GM as a company keeps hoping to recover its sales from before the bankruptcy, but recent car-show developments show that may be difficult even with a new 'Vette -- nobody was interested in the GM pickup refreshes after Ford unveiled its future F-series concept. Here's what I suggest -- that the council adopt a resolution that asks GM for a "yes or no" decision on the site by 2015, after which negotiations for redevelopment can take place. Environmental cleanup is an issue, but it hasn't been an insurmountable one with the other closed plants.
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As far as the Kenosha template, this isn't a factory by the lake, so I don't think a marina and condos are in the offing! More likely what could be done is something to make the south side of Delavan Dr. and west side of Jackson more transitional, perhaps with multi-family housing, or light industrial development. There just isn't likely to be the same need for parking. The main part of the site is probably best suited for redevelopment in toto as an industrial condominium. Still, none of this can really happen until GM *makes a decision*, and that's where we are. Our ability to affect this is very limited.
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Clearly we haven't lost great numbers of people -- the school enrollment barely dipped, for example. And most of the vacant modern industrial space is leased out, so we haven't lost our ability to attract businesses. The retail corridor seems as viable as ever. Still, we lost a big chunk of payroll and that affects long-term investment, and the housing market is still just sort of limping. But we have a sold workforce and good quality of life overall, so we should be able to capitalize on that and our other assets like transportaion and proximity to urban centers (Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago, Rockford) in the long run.

We were telling everyone we knew about and told them about the price, which was $20 a pizza, and when I heard the old "That's too much for a pizza" I just rolled my eyes most of the time since the people telling me have no issue sitting in a bar several nights a week and spending $30, $40 or $50 on beer. But that's the tradition of Janesville, sadly.

Sigma40, you proved my point about people not trying new things around here, I have lived all over the country and that pizza was outstanding, freshest ingredients in town and $22 isn' that far off from some of the other places in town that use substandard ingredients. Just to give you a comparison, most pizzas I get in this city I eat nearly the whole pie in one sitting, with the place that closed I was done after 3 pieces because it was just crust and filler, it was loaded with ingredients. I go to Sam's or Lisa's in town and a large cost only a few bucks less and the quality isn't even close. But like you said people around here won't give a place a chance. As far as the appearance I am not sure what you saw because the place was cleaner and better put together than any other non chain pizza place in town. Our plan was to go down tonight but instead we are heading to Orfordville for some excellent pizza at Villa.

what pizza place closed?

I agree that the entrances to Janesville leave alot to be desired. Beloit, Kenosha, and now Milton also do a better job of truly looking forward.

To charge $22. for a pizza you better have a reputable name behind you and a few years.... If you are talking the one downtown the facebook pics looked kinda of trashy and unprofessional... a new no name pops up and wants high dollar? ...hmmm. Maybe it was good but judging by appearance of the people/place and the price... a lot of people were discouraged from trying it....myself included.

eagleone- yes good pizza but seems he doesn't like to pay employees or rent so cannot stay open. I told somebody who thought $22 for pizza was too high. For 1- that should feed 4 people- 3 if you like to overeat. 2- go to the store and buy everythign you need to make a homemade pizza with all those topping- keep it under $20- bet you cannot do it!

I just got another indication this town is doomed, the best pizza place I have seen in this town has closed its doors, I can't say I am shocked, people don't like to pay for quality around here.

I've lived here for almost 50 years, and this city abides. It keeps going, improving, GM or not. We'll make it.

marge123, I agree with your last comment totally, but that isn’t the only thing in this city contrary to what many would have you believe, is it the taxpayers responsibility? Absolutely not! The argument I always hear is that the reason Janesville is floundering is because of the loss of that revenue, my point is we will never move on until every idea or discussion stops containing the lets G and M.

I get it--now in detail please do tell me what the city can or should do with a property they do not own.

Marge, you totally missed oldtimer's point didn't you? Try reading it again. The WWII comment did not reflect on GM in any way.

oldtimer--the city does not own that property--General Motors owns it--nothing to do with WW2.

Marge then we should not do anything ? That is not the way this country became so great. With mind sets like yours we would never won WW ll

We might be able to drink a beer or wine in the park- but only if you bring your WHOLE family and call it a reunion and pay for a pravilian. lol

Eagle1 , I do not believe the city has ever been responsible for environmental policies for General motors also most damage was done when people had no clue of the damage they were doing to the ground-heck I know some old people who still think it's great to pour gas on weeds. My point was that as a taxpayer in Janesville there is no way we can afford hundreds of millions if not billions in clean-up costs.(at least my family can't afford property taxes 10-20x more)

marge123, the area is a 'toxic waste' dump no doubt, but the city didn't do much to regulate that over the decades while taking in plenty of revenue for it so I don't have much sympathy for that mindset at this point. If GM wants to hold on to the useless piece of property rather than responsibly cleaning it up and selling it or renovating it or whatever, then that is on them and they can suffer the consequences financially and to their image. That company hasn't done itself any favors locally or nationally in regards to its image, so I doubt the rotting building is of much concern.

oldtimer , The city has no right to tear down something they do not own. As a taxpayer I do not want the city to "buy" this property for even a dollar because of clean-up costs.

Look what Kenosha did with the old auto plant, been there as long as the GM plant in Janesville they tore it down and made beautiful apts, parks etc. so many negative people here.

Eagle1 very well said. I haven't seen any leaders step up either. Beloit, kenosha have done so much to make there cities beautiful, I suggest janesville start by doing something to make the entrances to Jsvl more beautiful, center ave, Milton ave and court st, your engineers must be able to come up with something different, I think you could get a lot of volunteers to help, this would be a start and go from there, people would be more proud

When I first moved back to Janesville almost 3 years ago I was very optimistic about the future here I saw the closing of GM as a good thing long term allowing the city to grow up if you will and advance, however I am not seeing any 'leaders' step up and turn Janesville into what it could be. From all accounts of people that knew him it seems to me the loss of Ken Hendricks was a much bigger loss than GM. That guy was a motivated man that made things happen. He was a figure head for the area, something we do not have, to bring things to the area. We have no mayor, that hurts the city in its ability to recruit, not just jobs but for other improvements in life. The longer I live here the less optimistic I am about the future here, the attitude doesn't seem to change as to what a good job is and how one goes about getting one. Any new ideas about bringing entertainment gets bashed, when a great local restaurant opens people find excuses not to go. It is sad, a city this size has a ton of potential and partner that with the location between some larger markets and the natural surroundings, but it just can't get out of the rut.

I think most people have left that in the past... move on and quit bringing these articles up. Im sure all you are doing is taking people back down the depression road. You act as if its the first and only place to ever shut down in this country....Janesville is booming.

It's my hometown and I want it to prosper and grow. There are many positive things about our city on the Rock River and yes there are a few negative but all in all the good out ways the bad. Sorry if that upsets the people who constantly throw the negative view out no matter what.