Campustown

Our Journey to begin walking and talking about campus town started at Temple Hoyne, as we moved to Wright Street and ventured up to Green. Looking down Green, I saw the long stretch that we consider "campustown." To be honest, I had never really thought of the Green Street and close surrounding area as Campustown, but I'm glad I got that cleared up.
A lot of people complain about the condition of campus town. Aside from the obvious trash laying around and general grime that comes along with a downtown style area, there are quite a few aesthetic and functional problems with the area specifically. Some have been fixed. Some have not. Hopefully the remaining ones will be better for future Illini, as it is a misrepresentation (in my opinion) of what campus should be and gives it a bad name.
The first thing we talked about was how a lot of the campus town area has been planned to be restructured and rebuilt. A few students and a professor years ago came up with a revitalization plan for the fronts of the buildings and the streets themselves. In recent years since I've been here there was even a plan to make Green Street a pedestrian-only mall. Obviously that didn't pan out. BUT the corner of Green and Wright, as Professor Hinders told us, is considered by most to be the best representation of what campus town should be. As you move further down, past fourth street, Green Street feels a lot more spread out and less condensed, and less like a city or downtown.
I hope that in the future more businesses or apartments fill the space to make the entirety of Green feel like the block from Wright to Sixth or Fifth. It is clear that a lot of new things are going up, like the apartments across the street from 309.
I guess I shouldn't be totally negative about Campustown, as we actually did talk about some things that are gone that used to be there. Papa D's (my favorite campus town late-night eatery) used to be a drive-through bank. As Professor Hinders told us, that caused a lot of problems with traffic and pedestrian safety with the cars trying to move in and out. 309 (nicknamed the "whopper" back in the day) used to be a Burger King with a drive-through. It had similar problems. Luckily those are gone.
The one thing I would love to see improved is the boneyard creek area. There is a great opportunity for a nice walkway or path going between Green and Healey, and I think it would add a nice tough to campus town. Thus far, it really only runs from Wright to Sixth/Fifith area. That would be a great improvement for campus if it were to change.