Can a city improve with less residents, less tax base but more supporters?

[jt1]

There is no question that the CoD has many supporters from the suburbs and state-wide that do many great things. With that said, it appears that the supporters are increasing while residents and tax base continue to decline.

So the question I pose to the board is: Can a city ever improve with a declining population, declining tax base but a large number of supporters that live outside the community?

The intent is not to belittle any of the great work done by those that live outside the city as the efforts by anyone working to improve the city make a large impact.