Week 8 Observations

On Tuesday, March 10th, we hopped on Professor Hinders' magic school bus and headed out on a magical journey to the City Formerly Known as West Urbana.  We got an entertaining bus ride, an entertaining walk, and even some of the things that we learned were pretty interesting that day.

On the bus ride to the transportation depot, we learned of the origins of Urbana-Champaign and the westward expansion of the United States in general.  As new settlers chased the dream of manifest destiny and headed Californ-I-ways, they gradually settled along the way.  Professor Hinders explained that the names Urbana and Champaign were present where he previously lived in Ohio, and that the people who settled that area also most likely settled this area, due to similar names appearing in the graveyards in both Ohio and here on campus.  I find it fascinating how something like the names of towns can tell the story of the gradual process of westward expansion and the development of the United States as we know it.

When we arrived at the train station, we discussed how the landscape of Champaign itself began to change.  Ordinances designed to facilitate the westward expansion by US settlers had divided the western United States into a large grid system, but the presence of a train track that cut diagonally through this grid necessitated a shift and caused some problems where the traditional grid and the train track grid collided.  Because of this, there are many streets that don't line up quite right and numerous diagonal streets that flow parallel to the train tracks.

One of the most interesting things from this tour for me was how much it related to my previous CHP course.  Last semester I took CMN 220, and one of the topics that we dealt with was the transformation of the city.  It was there that we learned about the shift towards an automobile-centric society, part of which was the purchasing of trolleys and light rail by automobile manufacturers to eliminate competition.  I also wrote a paper on urban renewal for that class, in which I discussed the reclamation and repurposing of old manufacturing property into loft apartments and storefronts, which was present in Champaign.

Throughout the rest of the tour, we discussed the organization of Champaign and the organization of many towns in the United States in general, namely the three main tenets of faith, knowledge, and health, as churches, libraries, and parks were frequently located in close proximity and often at the center of the town.  We saw many of Champaign's churches were located conveniently on church street, as its name would suggest, and adjacent to a large park that encompassed several city blocks.  At the city's center was the city hall, where the train track grid met the continental grid, providing a symbol of authority and pride for the city of Champaign.  Though things have shifted around through the years, the structure and ideals envisioned by the "forefathers," if you will, remain apparent.