Assignment:
Respond to the following in a minimum of 500 words:
Based on your community observations, what was the most important data point? What finding was most surprising to you? Data Strengths Weaknesses Community: Sycamore is the city, in Dekalb County, Illinois. Sycamore is about 55 miles west- northwest of Chicago.
Sycamore has a total area of 9.786 square miles of which 99.61% is land and 0.038 is water. As it is on the South Branch Kishwaukee River in Dekalb County. The median income for a family $62,083 square miles is water and the rest land. The area has a population of 18,000 people and rising, Sycamore racial make-up consists of White, who are the largest occupants, African American, Native American, Asian, other races and Hispanic. The age bracket witnessed during the survey were mostly elderly grandparents and young families between 24-35 years. Walking around the neighborhood on Saturday, I noticed people of various ages and race either walking or driving around indicating a culturally diverse population.
A number of young adults appeared overweight while some were morbidly obese. One in three people I met were smoking, while some teenagers and adults seemed to wear heavy clothes for a hot weather. There were people standing outside taverns and local restaurants while smoking in the evening. The taverns around the city's main street were occupied not to the brim due to COVID. During the survey, I noticed joggers (20-30 years), using the bike path, while older men and women were walking their dog. The people outside walking on and attending to their business were of all ages, and they looked clean and well-kempt. The people appeared well nourished. Smoking indoors is prohibited, especially in public places. Bars were present in in the downtown areas. Sycamore consists of a downtown, filled with restaurants, office buildings, Court house that was built in 1904 and variety of shops.
The city has a Historical District an architecturally interesting area with about 200 individual properties. It was established in 1978 when it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The community consists of Sycamore Library, Kishwaukee Hospital, and the USPS. YMCA and the schools.
The schools include: ten public schools, which have elementary schools, middle schools and a large high school. The middle schools have been rebuilt. There are three private schools (grades K-8). Sycamore borders the city of Dekalb which has NIU-Northern Illinois University. The town Sycamore uses a community college-Kishwaukee community college in nearby town of Malta. The parks and sidewalks are not fully utilized. There is at times a lot of traffic, with stop lights located after every few blocks. The city of Sycamore has a Midwest Museum of Natural History. Sycamore is home of the annual Sycamore Pumpkin Festival, established tin 1962 The city offers environmentally friendly solutions like reuse and recycle programs. The roads have potholes, and there are some secondary roads present.
There is very few handicap parking along the street. Housing is a problem, whereby some houses need repair. Houses have posts with "for rent" There is also a trailer park community. Some streets have well-built family homes, with big trees lined along the road. Houses located near the lake are mansions with larger yards. There is a high demand for fast food, because most of the restaurants since the COVID times have added drive thru or pick up food, with a lot of traffic waiting in the drive-thru lines. There are bus stops to indicate bus transportation, which have been renovated to offer a glass cover during rain or hot sun.
The road connects all the way to the NIU campus. There is an urban renewal project that is ongoing with lofts and condos being advertised, some even offer live-work spaces. Then there is an Armed Forces Career Center just in the middle of the town. There are cases of violence around the bars and drug use being found around the parks, as evident in the community paper. Hospitals available are Kishwaukee Hospital, and Kindred Hospital for long term treatment. The community has a counseling center called the Ben Gordon Center. There is also Walgreen's care services and the Dekalb Clinic. Fast food restaurants have placed billboards to advertise their restaurants. There are cases of domestic violence as per the community paper. Hope Haven offers homeless people with meals and cot services.
The Senor center provides services like community meals, housing assistance, and mental health services. There is a hippie shop selling different types of smoking paraphernalia, with some hemp products available. There are three fire stations present in the community and one police department. The community is provided with bicycle paths and sidewalks. There is a park with playing fields for basketball, swimming pool and tennis.
There was railroad present in the city which closed in the 1970's There are several areas of worship, which are mostly Catholic or Lutheran.
Sycamore Family YMCA is a club which offers group exercise, childcare, gym and aquatics, and sports both for adult and youths. Domestic violence forum and a meeting with the city council. Family health center offers homeopathic and organic products.
Sycamore has diversity aimed at offering a quality life for residents through expanding resources, coordinating with community leaders and leveraging the assets the community have in order to develop economic growth and stability.
There is a movie theater in the down town area.