Champaign, Illinois

Champaign is a city located in Champaign County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 67,518. The mayor is Gerald Schweighart, whose term will expire in 2007.

Downtown

The downtown area of Champaign was recently the target of a largely successful revitalization effort designed to bring more businesses into the area and return the downtown district to the center of city life. In addition to efforts which restored the facades on many of the historic buildings, additional construction projects, including restaurants, bars, shops, office space, and condominums, have recently increased the size of the downtown area, while still maintaining the distinct turn-of-the-century architecture associated with Champaign. The new growth in downtown Champaign has coincided with the larger growth of the "north Prospect" area of the city, similiar in a smaller scale to the sprawl famous with areas like the Chicago suburbs, Atlanta, and Houston. The growth in the north Prospect area relies in part on leapfrogging, moving out to the countryside and developing more remote farm land that eventually connects to the main development. Given the overwhelming success of such suburban shopping areas nationally, new development within any city center represents an important and hopeful alternative to the dominant movement out and away from the cities.

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