Strongest Town 2022, Round 2: Jasper, IN vs. Champaign, IL
Welcome to the second round match-up in the seventh annual Strongest Town Contest! In this round, eight towns are facing off, and four will advance to the next segment of the contest based on your votes. We invite you to review photos and captions representatives from these two cities provided to our questions about economic resilience, citizen involvement, community response to the pandemic, and more. Then vote for the strongest candidate at the bottom of this page.
Can’t decide? If you’re looking for inspiration, check out how we describe the Strong Towns approach.
You may vote once per match-up. Round 2 voting closes at noon CT on Thursday, March 17. For rules, and to follow along with the contest, visit the Strongest Town Contest page.
Note: All entries are lightly edited for clarity and readability.
JASPER, IN
Entry submitted by: Mark Nowotarski, Nancy Eckerle, Kate Schwenk, Darla Blazey, Whitney Lubbers, Lisa Bower, Dean Vonderheide.
(Source: City of Jasper Government.)
Impact Jasper is our 10-year comprehensive plan with the intent and purpose to continually build upon, adjust, and strengthen, balancing priorities with our budget to assure fiscal responsibility. It is a fluid guide that includes a broad view of Jasper including economic development, neighborhoods, transportation, community facilities, utilities, parks and recreation, environmental assets, quality of life, and more. “Our prosperous city has the potential to be better than we are now, and we are excited to be in control of our future,” says Mayor Dean Vonderheide. This is a community-driven plan that included thirty-four separate ways we collected input from public workshops, resulting in 690 unique comments, 706 survey participants, outreach events, focus groups, interviews, youth engagement through school assignments, and social media engagement. Pictured above is one of the many input sessions.
From this, four overarching themes emerged:
Impact our Economy: growing our economy and talent pool.
Impact Our Community: connecting people and places.
Impact Our Legacy: building a strong healthy community.
Impact Our Livability: investing in our neighborhood amenities.
(Source: Jasper Mayor’s Leadership Youth Council.)
Jasper Mayor’s Youth Leadership Council (JMYLC) was established in 2019 by Mayor Dean Vonderheide. JMYLC’s mission is to develop leadership skills and empower students with engaging service opportunities that benefit the Jasper community. Pictured is the first project the youth council completed, an interactive wall mural that also welcomes individuals to our community in fifteen different languages. These different languages were the primary languages of the current students at Jasper High School in the 2019–2020 school year.
Current projects include a “Welcome to Jasper” monument sign on the North side of Jasper (2020–2021 school year) and a community mural on the exterior of the Dubois County Museum (2021–2022 school year). All funds are raised by JMYLC to complete each project.
(Source: Heart of Jasper.)
The Heart of Jasper was formed in 2020 with a collaborative effort of several local entities including the City of Jasper, Jasper Chamber of Commerce, Dubois County Tourism, and the Greater Downtown Merchants Association. Our mission is to create the epicenter of activity for the community by leveraging existing assets, transforming those in need, and instilling new energy through creative programs and collaborative leadership. Our vision is to be the best small-town experience to all. We are committed to moving downtown Jasper forward to advance positive changes in preserving historic buildings, supporting local businesses, and enhancing the atmosphere to make the downtown a destination for our citizens and visitors.
Pictured is our annual Farm-to-Table dinner event. Some other highlights include $50,000 being granted to five business owners for façade improvements, three crosswalk murals by local artists connecting our new Cultural Center to downtown, seventeen welcome banners by local artists, a pop-up market for entrepreneurs, seasonal Downtown Chowdown food truck event, and Chalk Walk for children.
(Source: Jasper Strassenfest Committee.)
Inviting and inclusive, the city of Jasper, Indiana, lives up to its reputation as one of America’s best communities. Residents and visitors can enjoy the city’s rich history while exploring the beautiful parks and trails, enjoying the arts, entertainment, shopping, and dining experiences. We are a small but growing community with safe neighborhoods and clean streets, where quality of place is a priority. “What makes Jasper unique is we are a small, very proud community. People notice as soon as they drive into town how clean and neat the community is. We have an excellent school system; an excellent parks program and we are known for our arts,” says Darla Blazey, Director of Community Development and Planning.
The photograph is of our annual Strassenfest (German street festival) held in the downtown square each August. While we celebrate our proud German culture and heritage, our community continues to grow and embrace our diversity.
(Source: Dubois County Tourism.)
Jasper has been truly fortunate to have a strong community with a business base that continues to invest in the community, and citizens that are willing to step up and contribute a number of ways with their time, talent, and fund raising. The result has been a continuous expansion of recreational facilities throughout the town, from our Riverwalk along the Patoka River, to the Spirit of Jasper train and train depot to several in town parks and playgrounds. Photographed above is a cycling event at the Parklands of Jasper, a 75-acre major urban renewal endeavor which turned a private nine-hole golf course and the surrounding woodlands into “Indiana’s Natural Destination” with two miles of walking and biking trails, three ponds, 25 acres of woods, two water cascades, a wetlands area for nature studies, a splash pad, tree fort, exercise pods, musical playground and pavilion.
CHAMPAIGN, IL
Entry submitted by: Rob Kowalski, Ben LeRoy, Lacey Rains Lowe, Roya Nassirpour.
Downtown Champaign looking south down Neil Street. (Source: One Main.)
Downtown Champaign has experienced an urban renaissance. The City’s Redevelopment Incentive Program (RIP) has provided grant funding for local developers to renovate older buildings with first floor commercial spaces and upper-story apartments. Those spaces have in turn become opportunities for locally owned businesses to thrive—with currently over 40 of them in Downtown. Added to this success have been incrementally larger, new construction projects providing what today is a perfect blend of old and new, small- and medium-sized buildings. Downtown Champaign is built to a human scale and is comfortable. Efforts are underway to continue the success with a new plaza gathering space extending off the existing One Main Plaza (shown in the photo).
Illini fans at Grange Grove. (Source: University of Illinois Athletics.)
Champaign is home to the University of Illinois. It is the heart of our community and the driver of our local economy. The University of Illinois enrolls over 52,000 students and there are nearly half a million alumni around the world who left their mark on our community. The presence of the University brings a diversity to Champaign that is unmatched by cities our size in Illinois. Those who come to the University are progressive thinkers who help make our community stronger and more financially resilient. They seek to live in an urban environment, yet enjoy our manageable size. They support, and often create, small businesses. And best of all, they are entrepreneurial, which gives Champaign and the University of Illinois the ability to claim founders of groundbreaking innovations such as the MRI, the first modern web browser, the LED, YouTube and, wait for it….whipped cream in a can!
All Walk Crossing at the intersection of Green Street and Sixth Street in Campustown. (Source: Rob Kowalski, City of Champaign.)
Green Street is the commercial “front door” to the University of Illinois campus. It has become a dense, mixed-use urban corridor thanks to years of public investment in infrastructure that has led to nearly $500 million of private infill development. Green Street has succeeded thanks to a commitment to prioritizing the corridor for pedestrians by reducing travel lanes, widening sidewalks, implementing all-cross intersections, installing bike lanes, providing improvements for transit and eliminating historic flooding problems. The City recently eliminated all parking requirements in Campustown after learning only 40% of required parking built was actually demanded in new development. Many residents who live in this area do not own a car thanks to the ease of getting around. The population in this area has grown over 20% in just ten years. The valuation of infill development in Campustown is substantially higher than greenfield development when calculated on a per square foot basis.
Hopscotch Bakery + Market Store. (Source: Hopscotch Bakery + Market.)
Hopscotch Bakery + Market Cake Decorator. (Source: Sara Gardner Photography.)
Champaign is not a “Corporate” town. Rather, we grew up as a “University” town. This means our community is built not by heavy corporate investment but rather the investment of our own residents. Downtown Champaign is comprised primarily of locally owned businesses. However, not all businesses start in Downtown. In one example, Hopscotch Bakery + Market is a beloved local business that took vision in a vacant corner store of yesteryear in the heart of a residential neighborhood. In doing so, traditional zoning hurdles and fears of commercial business next to residential had to be overcome. The business is a huge success and now considered an amenity to the neighborhood. It also provided an opportunity for the City to learn of the challenges faced those wishing to open such a business in a neighborhood context. It has led to a greater understanding of how public policy should be adjusted to allow and support this kind of vision and investment.
Recently Constructed Missing Middle Housing. (Source: Rob Kowalski, City of Champaign.)
Champaign has charming, old neighborhoods in walking distance to Downtown and close to campus. However, decades of restrictive zoning limited new construction and resulted in a gradual decrease in population as household sizes shrunk. The City has rewritten zoning regulations and lifted density restrictions while decreasing parking requirements. As a result, “missing middle,” multi-family apartment homes have been constructed providing an increase in the number of units in the center of the City. Basic design guidelines ensure they nicely fit in those neighborhoods. This allows more of our residents to live in town, where they can take advantage of our walkable city. In the same neighborhood, a local apartment management company has built a niche in updating older apartment buildings with the goal keeping the units affordable and offering tenant interaction with garden plots available to them on site.