2010-2014 Consolidated Plan - City of Champaign

Neighborhood Wellness DefinedIn 1992, the Champaign City Council adopted the Neighborhood Wellness Action Plan. The NeighborhoodWellness Action Plan defines neighborhood wellness as an objective for all neighborhoods in the City.The Plan states that neighborhood wellness is a state of livability wherein housing is decent, safe, andaffordable; private yards and public spaces are well maintained; crime is low; streets and other publicfacilities are in sound condition; and residents are active in neighborhoods affairs. It also refers to anenvironment supportive of both public and private investments and one in which property values areprotected and neighborhood character is preserved. The concept of neighborhood wellness also meansthe following:• Citizen cooperation with local government in improving neighborhoods• Earlier detection and elimination of conditions which cause neighborhood deterioration and residentdissatisfaction• Neighborhood-oriented service delivery based on the needs and priorities of individual neighborhoodsto better manage and monitor neighborhood improvementsThe concept of neighborhood wellness is important because it presents a comprehensive strategy whichaddresses issues facing individual neighborhoods. The Neighborhood Analysis Report is the documentthat measures various indicators to determine areas’ specific issues and services demands.HistoryThe concept of neighborhood wellness dates back to 1985. Prior to 1985, the City of Champaign hadconcentrated its housing rehabilitation programs, intensive code enforcement, and CommunityDevelopment Block Grant (CDBG)-funded capital improvements almost exclusively in the northeastsection of the City. Neighborhoods that experienced extensive deterioration were targeted for massiveclearance, funded with federal and state grants. By 1985, grants for clearance projects were no longeravailable. It was intended that through a citywide neighborhood wellness program, the City would beable to attack blight and decline at earlier stages to prevent the need for clearance and redevelopment.Therefore, in 1985, the City Council directed staff to expand community development activities citywide.This directive recognized that blight and neighborhood decline existed outside of the areas traditionallydesignated as community development target neighborhoods.In 1992, the City Council adopted the Neighborhood Wellness Action Plan as an element of the City’sComprehensive Plan, identifying the strategies to be used to deliver neighborhood-based servicesthroughout the City. The document was later awarded a National Planning Award from the AmericanPlanning Association. The strategies included in the Plan were based on the needs identified in the 1990Neighborhood Analysis Report. Strategies were targeted in five primary areas: housing, propertymaintenance, crime/public safety, infrastructure, and citizen involvement. Over the past ten years, thisPlan has served as the foundation of the City’s philosophy to target City services at the neighborhoodlevel, customizing problem-solving strategies to the unique needs of each area. Annual reports arecreated to review the past year’s accomplishments based on the policy direction from the Plan.Update ProcessThe 2003 Neighborhood Wellness Plan update process has four main steps. The first step, theNeighborhood Classification System, provides a foundation for analyzing data by individual planning areasand a basis for developing program strategies. The Neighborhood Analysis Report which outlines theconditions in each planning area is the second step of the process. The third step involves publicparticipation to determine the priorities of residents in each neighborhood, define the role of residents inthe wellness program, and identify methods to encourage the establishment of neighborhood-basedNeeds Assessment: Non-Housing Community Development 67