Manhattan Mayor James Doyle prefers haystacks to smokestacks and sows to subdivisions.
But he’s realistic about the changes in store for his small town.
Sitting in his village office, where he comes every afternoon after a full day’s work at Commonwealth Edison, Doyle recounts somewhat sadly how growth is coming to Manhattan, whether the 2,300 residents like it or not.
“We can’t stop it, so we have to manage it,” said Doyle, who has lived in Manhattan about 30 years or “basically all my life.”
“I’d like to see the growth controlled a little. I’d like to see the farmers not sell so much of their land (to developers) so that we could keep a rural atmosphere.”
The “growth” isn’t immediately apparent on a recent visit to the 107-year-old town. Mile after mile of farmland marks a peaceful drive into Manhattan on U.S. Highway 52, which leads to the heart of town.
Small businesses line Manhattan’s State Street, including an ice cream parlor where customers are rung up on an old-fashioned register. Down the way, in front of another local haunt, a father was giving his baby a ride on a tractor.
But at the Village Hall, the mayor pushes up his flannel sleeves, pulls out a map and points out the harbingers of change: Three new subdivisions, all begun in the last few years under a previous administration, sport new homes ranging from $127,000 to $240,000. In August, School District 210 purchased 80 acres of farmland for a future high school. And, Metra has leased the the Norfolk Southern rail route that connects Chicago to Manhattan.
The latter move is in anticipation of connecting the railroad to the Rock Island district by 2000, according to Metra spokesman Chris Knapton. Manhattan residents would no longer have to drive into New Lenox to commute to downtown Chicago. “There’s no question (Manhattan), and the south suburbs in general, is where the growth is,” Knapton said.
Then there’s the matter of the proposed airport site in Peotone, Doyle adds. “That would just make us grow even faster,” he said. “A lot of people want to live near an airport, and then again, a lot of people who live here now won’t want to.”
Doyle talks about his constituents as if he knows them, and for the most part, he does. He rattles off a long list of founding families who helped build the village by volunteering time or donating money for programs, a concession stand or a baseball diamond for the local kids.
“This is a town where people still know each other,” Doyle said. People who are born and reared there often stay put. Others come back when they start families, he said. Of Doyle’s 10 brothers and sisters, only one lives outside Manhattan, he said.
When Doyle campaigned for mayor this year, he was following in his ancestors’ footsteps of public service: His great-great grandfather was the town’s first justice of the peace and a long line of family members have served the town in various jobs, he said. Doyle’s uncle, Jack Fitzgerald, was mayor for 20 years. Doyle’s wife, Peggy, is recreation director for the park district, a volunteer position. The Doyles have four daughters under the age of 13.
“I wanted this to be a place where my kids could afford to live,” Mayor Doyle said, glancing at a “Dad is Super” plaque on his desk and noting the high cost of the new development in town and the relatively high taxes. He estimated annual real estate taxes at about $3,400 on a $130,000 home.
A large chunk goes to pay for the well-regarded public school district, he said. The village staff is fairly thin. Manhattan has only a village president, clerk and six trustees. The Manhattan Village Board has a strong economic development and tax abatement committee that recently was formed to coordinate communication among developers and various village departments.
Doyle said he has gotten support and advice about negotiating with developers from other growth villages like Mokena. But he notes that even Mokena’s small-town atmosphere may be waning: Many of Manhattan’s new residents left suburbs like Mokena in search of a more rural area, he said.
Resigned to the growth, Doyle said he also hopes to lure some light industry to shore up Manhattan’s tax base. And he wants Manhattan to be a strong player in the south suburban boom.
“I don’t want us to be swallowed up by New Lenox,” Doyle said. “We want to put ourselves in a position where we can stop a village from coming in and taking over.”
