EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — Evansville Mayor Stephanie Terry on Thursday said quality of life investments are critical to draw new people and business to town.

This fall, city council members approved $24 million for renovations at the city’s 46 parks. Terry said the new playground at Wesselman Park, which opened this spring and includes numerous features to allow people with disabilities to use its equipment, is an example of the projects she wants to fund.

“A lot of the projects that we’re going to take on next year, and in the years to come, are things that have just been neglected,” Terry said. “We want to take care of the assets and the things that we have now, really lift them up so that people can be proud of them, and that people come back together as a neighborhood.”

Evansville’s population has dropped by roughly 1.7% since the 2020 Census, according to estimates from the Census Bureau. Terry said quality of life issues now drive people’s decisions about where to live and impact where businesses choose to locate. She said it ultimately takes strong neighborhoods and strong families to make a strong city.

Terry became Evansville’s first woman mayor and its first Black mayor when she won the Nov. 2023 election. She had previously served for 10 years on the Vanderburgh County Council. She is now one of a record nine Black mayors statewide, a piece of history she said she’s honored to be part of.

“It’s all about representation,” Terry said. “We want our voices heard, and that’s really why I’ve been involved in politics for a very long time but service to people in the community. So, that’s why I do what I do every day is because I want a better place for all.”

Terry’s predecessor, Lloyd Winnecke, launched an initiative called “E is for Everyone.” Terry said to her, that means ensuring everyone who lives in Evansville feels they have the support they need no matter their circumstances. She said she is currently working with immigrant professors in town to launch a resource center that translates city services for people who do not speak English fluently. She also has plans in the works for an affordable housing development and the city’s first new fire station in roughly two decades.

“Those kind of collaborations really make a difference and ensure that everyone has the best quality of life in Evansville,” Terry said.

Terry also has launched a block-by-block cleanup program and a blight reduction program. She said the city plans to repair or remove 150 blighted properties in 2025, roughly triple the number it normally addresses.

“Students are going to perform better because if they’re not walking past crime in their neighborhoods and run-down places that crime occurs, just imagine the hope that they’re going to feel when they feel like they’re cared about, that their city cares about them,” Terry said. “And I think that makes all the difference.”