City Staff Celebrate International Women’s Day
On March 8, 202, International Women’s Day (IWD) was celebrated around the world. This day is a focal point in the women’s rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women. The theme of IWD 2023 was #EmbraceEquity, a campaign to get the world talking about […]
Hedge POP! Park Featured by American Planning Association
The American Planning Association is a not-for-profit professional association for planners and has over 40,000 members. The APA recently took note of the City’s efforts with the Hedge POP! Park and sought to have the effort featured as part of their Equity in Practice series. The blog post features the experience of the City in […]
Halloween on Hedge x Dia de los Muertos a Success
On October 22, 2022, the Planning and Development Department coordinated Halloween on Hedge x Dia de los Muertos, the final programming celebration of the season at Hedge POP! Park. Multiple departments, including Planning and Development, Public Works, Equity and Engagement, Neighborhood Services, Fire, and Police, came together to celebrate the community and all things spooky! […]
Neighborhood Youth Provide Input on Future Park Space for Garden Hills
Staff from Planning and Development, Neighborhood Services, and the Public Works Departments recently visited Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church in the Garden Hills Neighborhood to work with the Youth Group. As a continuation from last week’s design session held at Hedge POP! Park, City staff engaged the youth with a “Build Your Own Park” activity, […]
Garden Hills Residents Share Preferences for Permanent Park Space on Hedge Road
Garden Hills residents were invited to the Hedge POP! Park on August 4, 2022, to share their preferences for what should go into the design of a permanent park space at the future Garden Hills Drainage Basin. The area that will be set aside for permanent park space was staked off so residents could understand […]
Green Street Lane Closure (between Second Street and Third Street)
In order to facilitate painting operations at 202 E. Green Street, Beta Projects and Bankier Apartments will close the westbound lane of Green Street between Second Street and Third Street. The closure will begin on Wednesday, July 13, and will end on Tuesday, July 19, 2022. The closure will occur each weekday from 7 a.m. […]
New Mayor Feinen Podcast Discusses the Hedge Pop! Park
Mayor Feinen talks with Senior Planner Lacey Rains Lowe and Neighborhood Relations Manager John Ruffin about what went into getting the Hedge Pop! Park up and running. The temporary park is the pilot project for the Safe Places, Active Spaces initiative, providing an exciting new neighborhood amenity to our Garden Hills neighbors. At the intersection […]
City of Champaign Competes in “Strongest Town 2022 Contest”
The City of Champaign is proud to announce it has been selected as a finalist in the “Strongest Town 2022 Contest.” Strong Towns is a nationally recognized non-profit organization which advocates for communities becoming more financially strong and resilient through smart planning and development approaches. Conducted like a tournament bracket, Champaign will compete against other […]
Market Street Reopened in Downtown Champaign
In March 2020, the City worked directly with Downtown businesses to lessen the impacts to business due to the statewide closure of indoor dining and other COVID-related restrictions. This included the closure of some Downtown side streets and parking spaces in order to allow businesses to provide expanded outdoor dining options for customers. The City […]
City Planners Represent the City of Champaign at the Illinois Chapter of the American Planning Association Annual Conference
Staff from the Planning and Development Department participated in the annual conference of the Illinois Chapter of the American Planning Association October 6-8 in Normal. The conference is an opportunity to share practices with other communities and to showcase work being done in Champaign. Zoning Administrator Ben LeRoy organized and presented a panel discussion entitled […]