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SPRINGFIELD - Seeing is believing.

That is the message from Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and the city's development officer, Kevin Kennedy, as they describe the outlook for economic development in Springfield in 2018. One just needs to look around the city.

Among dozens of projects citywide, construction plows ahead on the new $960 million MGM Springfield casino project set to open in September, the Union Station transportation center is open and growing and the CRRC USA Rail Corp. will be producing its first subway cars for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority this year.

"We want to continue to build on the momentum and good feeling and morale, economic development and a good four-letter word - jobs," Sarno says. "We want to continue to create jobs, jobs and more jobs."

Just last week, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. delivered Sarno some of the best news of his tenure as mayor, announcing plans for a $300 million expansion in Massachusetts, including adding 2,000 jobs and creating a new campus on Boston's Fan Pier. In a deal that Gov. Charlie Baker helped leverage, some 1,500 of those jobs are to be created in Springfield.

Kennedy acknowledges there have been some doubters in recent years.

"We not only did things that people said we couldn't do, but we did it without the chaos that they said we were creating and now we think we have something that people will be proud of," Kennedy says.

There are projects large and small across the city that have a positive impact on economic development ranging from the thousands of people who will be attracted daily to the casino to a new traffic light at Main and Wason streets in the city's North End where traffic is flowing more smoothing in one of the corridors filled with health care providers frequented by people from across Western Massachusetts, Sarno says.

In the spring, the city's Refresh Springfield program in conjunction with MGM Springfield will be on full display with road improvements, new sidewalks and related infrastructure work, Sarno and Kennedy said. The improvements will occur along the Main Street and State Street corridors, they say.

The city and MGM announced plans last year for a jointly-funded $6.9 million streetscape improvement project in the downtown and South End neighborhood.

Recently announced plans to expand north-side rail traffic by way of Springfield and its newly refurbished Union Station is a boost for economic development, as is the state's plan to study improvements in east-west rail service, according to Kennedy.

The rail service improvements "will have a dramatic impact" on Springfield, he says.

As the economic climate improves in Springfield, it has an effect on the regional economy and a ripple effect to cities and towns across Western Massachusetts, Sarno says.

"I want people to come to Springfield from all parts of the country and world and say, 'Boy, I had a great time,'" Sarno says. "You can't put a price tag on that."

There has been a lot of talk about Springfield acting like the capital of the Western Massachusetts region, using places like the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum as catalysts for development on all levels, believes Kennedy.

"We've got things now for the region, for the whole region not only to participate in, but to be proud of," he says.

The hall of fame is undergoing a major renovation, and MGM Springfield will be managing the MassMutual Center, all boding well for the city and region, say the mayor and his development chief.

Meanwhile, the $183.3 million Interstate 91 deck reconstruction project is scheduled to be completed ahead of the opening of the new casino this summer, as pledged by the state. Sarno is pleased to say the I-91 project did not cause "(car)mageddon" as some had predicted.

The city's neighborhoods are thriving as well as the downtown, says Sarno, pointing to the plans to convert the former Indian Motocycle property and adjacent former Mason Square fire station into a housing complex as an example of how that neighborhood will see revitalization.

The recently dedicated Raymond Jordan Senior Center and the new South End Community Center, along with public and private developments, all have an impact on boosting economic development efforts and luring new developers to the city, the mayor and Kennedy add. Park improvements across the city help raise the quality of life for all and also bode well for future economic development, they also say.

The long vacant property at 31 Elm St. in Court Square will prove crucial to the downtown, and Sarno, making a football analogy, says the city is "on like the 5-yard line" as it edges closer to success with that project. The city is in negotiations with the preferred developer, OPAL and Wynn Development, and with MGM Springfield, on a proposal to convert that site to mixed uses including market rate housing.

Sarno said there have been many improvements to the park system including new parks and refurbished parks, along with code enforcement enhancements, and improvements in public safety and reductions in crime, all playing a role in the improved economic development outlook for 2018.

One example of the improved outlook is new management of the Chestnuut Towers in the downtown and the related plans for physical improvements to the challenging property, Sarno said.