Pick up your daily newspaper or turn on the television, radio, or your internet news stream, and the economic news is pretty much all bad.

Meanwhile, in our local communities, things are getting better — a fact that the mainstream media neglects to report. We are happy to do so instead.

A new Target store is coming to the West Loop, with strong community input assuring itwillmeet community needs. It will not only create jobs in the community but provide much needed part-time jobs for local students and other young adults — a sector of the economy particularly hard hit by hard times.

Wacker Drive and Congress Parkway are being reconstructed after years of neglect. The project is not only creating construction jobs but will make roadways safer and addmore green space that will benefit the community for decades to come.

In the most innovative effort of all, developer John Edel, who already created a successful industrial center in Bridgeport, now has his sights set on creating the first green, urban vertical farm in the nation.

Even when local institutions are in trouble because of the economy, there is hope. The National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame faces the threat of foreclosure, so people are rolling up their sleeves to save it. Hall management personnel, such as George Randazzo, are negotiating with the bank, while local activists such as Oscar D’Angelo and Dennis O’Neill of the University Village Association are working on plans to help the hall survive and thrive.

Taylor Street is losing its Italian character, and that’s just a fact — times change. But it should not lose its Italian heritage, and the hall is vital in commemorating that heritage. Italian-American sports heroes, many of whom grew up in the last Great Depression, can teach a lesson to us today about overcoming adversity.

All over this community, people are doing just that. We are an area on the upswing, and locals deserve congratulations for working hard to make the community better despite a national mood of doom and gloom. The rest of the nation can learn something from us.