The Illusion of the Big Check

Lessons Ignored: Streator vs. the Great City Thinkers
This article is part of Lessons Ignored: Streator vs. the Great City Thinkers, a continuing series in The Streator Standard exploring the proposed Beck’s development through the lens of some of the most influential voices in city planning—Jane Jacobs, Charles Marohn, Christopher Alexander, William H. Whyte, Jim Heid, and others. Each installment examines how their ideas apply to Streator’s future and what we risk losing when we trade vision for short-term fixes.

The Illusion of the Big Check

By The Streator Standard Staff

Charles Marohn, founder of Strong Towns, has made a career of showing cities what’s hiding behind the confetti of a ribbon cutting. He’s not anti-development—he’s pro-development that makes a place stronger. The uncomfortable truth he repeats is that most cities aren’t going broke all at once. They’re going broke one “victory” at a time, with each flashy project quietly locking in more obligations than it can ever pay for.

The proposed Beck’s gas station on the site of the former St. Mary’s Church is a textbook example of the problem.

The Beck’s Equation

To most people, it’s a tidy redevelopment story:

• An underused property: The church and its neighbors have sat neglected for years.
• A prime location: On the edge of downtown, next to Streator’s City Park.
• A ready developer: Beck’s has already purchased the land.
• A sweetener: A proposed TIF deal to make the project “feasible.”

It’s an easy sell for the six o’clock news—clean up an eyesore, create jobs, generate tax revenue.

But if you hand this package to Marohn, he doesn’t look at the bow. He turns it over to find the fine print.

Measuring What Matters

Strong Towns’ central question is deceptively simple: does this development generate enough wealth to cover the cost of its own existence?

It’s not enough for a project to bring in more revenue next year than it did last year. The real test is tax revenue per acre over decades compared to the long-term cost of maintaining all the infrastructure and services that make it possible.

On this measure, gas stations are among the poorest performers in the land use world. They require big curb cuts, wide driveways, lighting, stormwater infrastructure, policing, and ongoing street maintenance. They have one use, one customer stream, and minimal secondary economic spin-off. In other words, they’re the land-use equivalent of buying a luxury car that needs repairs from day one.

The “Better Than Nothing” Trap

Marohn has a name for the reflex that leads cities into these deals: the “Better Than Nothing” trap. When a property sits idle, city officials feel a compulsion to fill it—any use is better than an empty lot. The problem is, prime real estate in a core location isn’t nothing; it’s a patient asset that, if handled carefully, can generate vastly more wealth than a quick fix.

Putting a gas station here is like planting a concrete slab in the middle of a fertile field. You get “something” on it, sure—but you’ve destroyed its ability to yield its best possible value for generations.

Real-World Cautionary Tales

Strong Towns and Urban3 have tracked this pattern across the country, and the data is sobering:

• Brainerd, Minnesota – Marohn’s own hometown tore down historic storefronts and replaced them with drive-through pads and single-use chains. Tax yield per acre collapsed, infrastructure costs remained, and the city’s budget strain deepened. (Strong Towns)
• Lafayette, Louisiana – Urban3 found that traditional main street blocks generated over 10 times the tax revenue per acre of big-box retail, all while costing far less to serve. The difference wasn’t subtle—it was a chasm. (Urban3/Strong Towns Study)
• Champaign, Illinois – In the 2000s, the city gave TIF dollars to lure a big-box retailer to a site just off downtown. Within a decade, the store relocated to a suburban strip, leaving a mostly vacant building and costly infrastructure behind. The Champaign County Regional Planning Commission later cited it as a cautionary tale in their 2018 Downtown Investment Report. (Champaign County RPC)

Every one of these cities thought they were scoring an economic win. Every one locked themselves into a low-yield land use they eventually regretted.

The Infrastructure and Remediation Time Bomb

Every street, pipe, and sidewalk connected to a site is a financial promise. Cities must maintain them—not just today, but decades from now.

Gas stations bring an extra liability: underground storage tanks. Sooner or later, those tanks leak. Cleanup costs can range from $150,000 to over $1 million, depending on the severity and the size of the site. In theory, the property owner at the time is responsible. In practice, companies go bankrupt, properties change hands, and taxpayers get stuck footing the bill for an unusable, fenced-off hazard.

That means the Beck’s site, if it ever stops being a gas station, will require expensive remediation before it can host any other use—reducing its resale potential and saddling Streator with the long shadow of this decision.

What Could Be Instead: Real Church Redevelopments

Cities across the Midwest have turned former church properties into vibrant, tax-producing assets without erasing their potential:

• Chicago, Illinois — The former St. Boniface Church in West Town, vacant for decades, is being redeveloped into mixed-income apartments while preserving the historic façade.
• Grand Rapids, Michigan — A deconsecrated church was adapted into a neighborhood brewery and events venue, now a cornerstone for local gatherings and tourism.
• St. Louis, Missouri — The Sanctuary Lofts project converted a historic church into unique residential units, drawing new residents and raising nearby property values.

These examples didn’t require sacrificing prime urban land to a single low-value use. They leveraged history and location to create enduring places that return far more than they take.

An Incremental Path Forward

Marohn’s Strong Towns philosophy would start small:

• Stabilize the existing structures.
• Fill them with local-serving businesses or community uses that can evolve over time.
• Use small parcels to test new ideas—like pop-up retail or seasonal markets—before committing to a single use.
• Strengthen pedestrian and bike connections between the site, City Park, and Main Street.

These steps cost less up front, carry less risk, and create room for the site to grow into its highest and best use.

The Illusion Fades

The Beck’s proposal is easy to understand, easy to promote, and easy to approve. That’s what makes it dangerous.

We’ll cut the ribbon, pose for photos, and for a few years it will feel like progress. But the financial math will quietly work against us—low revenue, high maintenance, future environmental cleanup, and the permanent loss of one of our most strategically located properties.

Marohn’s verdict would be blunt: this is the kind of deal that weakens a city while convincing it that it’s getting stronger.