Edwardsville, Illinois

Edwardsville third of their “Top 10 Best Towns for Families.” Mayor Hal Patton, a dentist who has been the part-time mayor of Edwardsville for six years, talks about the city’s recent growth. “We’ve had a tremendous amount of economic development occurring in those six years, starting off with my first year as mayor, with about $47 million in investments,” he begins. “This last year, we had $251 million. We’ve recently added an additional two million square feet for the World Wide Technology campus. That’s a Fortune 500 company that does a lot of work with Fortune 100 companies in terms of software infrastructure and upgrading software packages for different businesses. We attracted two Amazon distribution centers, built within the last couple of years, hiring almost 2,000 individuals to assist in the package distribution system here in Southern Illinois and the Midwest. For our development area downtown, we’ve had about $25 million worth of investment in the last two years, from remodels to new buildings.” One developer, Plocher Construction Co. Inc., is planning a $50 million, 26-acre, mixed-use development in Edwardsville, to be called The Parkway. It will offer residents recreational and living options unlike any other development in the area. The residential side of the development will consist of 184 luxury apartment units and will be a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Close to downtown, at the edge of the Madison County Trails, it will be easily accessible to everything happening in Edwardsville, bringing an urban- lifestyle feel to the city, combining the convenience of downtown with the feel of a neighborhood. The project is designed for physically and socially active adults and will include multiple amenities such as a resort-style pool, fitness center, social lounge, walking/jogging paths, and connections to the Madison County bike and walking trail system (over 125 miles), as well as lots of common space for community activities. On the commercial side, there will be six outlet stores, single-story retail buildings, and a new, 40,000-square-foot flagship store for Kloss Furniture. The project, which is located on the EDWARDSV I LLE , I LL INOI S