On September 26, the planning team kicked off outreach for the City of Kankakee’s Beyond the Bend Comprehensive Plan at the Farmers’ Market!
Amid the music, activities, and great food, visitors stopped by our table to learn about the plan, community survey (click here to take), and share their thoughts. Long-time residents, newcomers, frequent visitors, and neighborhood kids all weighed in, making for an exciting start to the planning process.
Participants mapped their favorite spots in town and shared ideas for Kankakee’s future. From those conversations and insights a few key themes are beginning to emerge:
- Parks and gathering places: People love Kankakee’s parks, walking paths, and other community spaces, and many want to see more of them across the city. Ideas included neighborhood parks, community gardens, and a dedicated dog park.
- Preserving what makes Kankakee special: Many contributors stressed protecting the city’s historic buildings and architecture, along with natural resources like the river and the area’s ecological diversity.
- Spaces for young people: Several contributors called for more places designed for kids and teens of all ages, where they can connect with each other and feel safe.
Above all, our conversations made one thing clear: people love Kankakee. That’s exactly why your input matters as we plan for the city’s future.
This Comprehensive Plan will guide City decisions on land use, community character, economic development, transportation, and infrastructure for the next 10 to 15 years. It will help shape where new housing and businesses go, how residents get to the places they need, and how Kankakee can grow while protecting what matters most to the people who live, work, and play here. That’s why hearing from the community is such an important part of the process.
Have more ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Here are three ways to get involved online:
- Take a short community visioning survey
- Share a place-based idea on the comment map
- Post a big idea to the ideas gallery
