Champion the Many Positives that Make Cary Such a Wonderful Place

Through all the negativity of our politics, it’s time we focused on what makes Cary such a wonderful place to live, work, play, and raise a family. There is a reason why NerdWallet ranked Cary the 3rd best city in the nation for young families, while Wallet Hub named us the 7th best Illinois city to raise a family.

There is so much that makes our community great. We are a compassionate, family-oriented community with a hometown feel that relates back to our roots and history. We have incredible schools, great parks, and an award-winning trail system. We are centrally located and easily accessible. We have a strong community spirit, with our residents coming together to volunteer their time and talent to provide activities for our children and families. We have a strong business core, including manufacturing and businesses both small and large. And we have the lowest crime rate in McHenry County, leading Value Penguin to name us the 5th safest mid-sized city in Illinois.

To celebrate our community and the people who make it great, three years ago I initiated an annual fall fest called “Cary Main Street Fest.” In partnership with the Cary Chamber of Commerce, this community-wide festival takes over our downtown for 2 days in September highlighting the best that Cary has to offer, bringing our community together and attracting people from all throughout the region. The event drew approximately 6,000 people when we launched it in 2014, and this past year it grew to over 8,000 people.

To ensure we continue to move our community forward, I led the effort to develop a comprehensive plan for Cary. This vision for our future was compiled by experts with input from over a thousand of our residents, our village leaders, many of our businesses and organizations, and every government entity that represents our community. We worked diligently to solicit this input and develop a collaborative plan that charted a course for our village for years to come. This plan will help guide us as we move into the future.