East Carson Street has an image problem. South Side residents feel their neighborhood is slowly being choked by bars, rowdy patrons and nuisance crimes. Local development leaders fear businesses are being scared away by the party scene stigma. In an effort to ease those troubles, the South Side Local Development Co. spent a $25,000 Urban Redevelopment Authority grant on a four-day study that concludes with a public presentation at 1:30 p.m. today that will explore ways to improve East Carson Street. “We recognize that we’ve had some particular challenges of late,” said Rick Belloli, SSLD’s executive director. “I think the commercial district has been bleeding into the residential district, and we’re becoming too closely identified with one source of activity on Carson Street: bars. We want to strengthen the diversity and perception of diversity on Carson Street.” The nonprofit hired to study the South Side — the International Downtown Association — organized a series of hour-long focus groups with about 80 business owners, residents, developers and investors between Saturday and today. A five-member team of people from the association who have lived in Detroit; Burlington, Vt.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; and Pittsburgh will present preliminary findings at today’s meeting. Based on that hearing and two previous meetings, the group will develop a final report in 45 days that Belloli hopes will eventually influence zoning, construction and development decisions by the city Planning Commission and the URA. Lifelong South Side resident Cyril Esser, 53, told the team during a Monday session for retailers that the city must focus on providing basic services to East Carson Street. That includes repairing sidewalks and replacing dead or uprooted streetside trees. Esser has run Cindy Esser’s Floral Shop on East Carson since 1980. As for the neighborhood’s bar problem, Esser prescribed more police visibility and enforcement to deal with law-breaking patrons. The bars that have proliferated since the neighborhood’s steel mill days aren’t the problem, he said. It’s today’s brand of patrons. “The mill workers came to the bars for a couple of shots, and then they were tired and went home,” Esser said. “Today’s patrons are ready to party all night long and want to be able to hoot and holler. I want to be able to sleep.” Additional Information:

If you go:

What: Public presentation on improving the East Carson Street business district Who: Presented by the International Downtown Association and the South Side Local Development Co. When: 1:30 p.m. today Where: Brashear Building, corner of 20th and Sarah Streets, South Side For more information about the International Downtown Association, visit its Web site .

---

Copyright ©2026— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---