Local coverage
Project conversations across Champaign County.
Coverage depends on independent provider availability. Each page below explains useful housing and site context for that community.
Urbana
Much of Urbana's historic housing stock was built during the construction boom that followed the October 9, 1871 fire, long before crawl space vapor barriers or mechanical dehumidification were standard practice.
Local planning notes →Savoy
Savoy's fastest growth came between 2000 and 2024, when it more than doubled in size, but even its newest construction sits on the same historically poorly-drained black prairie soil found countywide.
Local planning notes →Mahomet
Mahomet was platted in 1832 directly on the Sangamon River's bank, specifically for its water, making it the first community established in what is now Champaign County.
Local planning notes →Rantoul
Chanute Field operated from 1917 to 1993, and buildings constructed to house that 76-year technical-training mission weren't built with today's crawl space moisture standards in mind.
Local planning notes →St. Joseph
St.
Local planning notes →Tolono
Tolono incorporated in 1865 around an 1856 rail junction, without a river or natural water feature shaping its site, which means its ground conditions are simply the county's black prairie soil -- poorly drained enough that clay drain tile became a local industry just to farm it.
Local planning notes →Monticello
Monticello's historic State Street homes and the Allerton estate, developed beginning in the late 1800s, were built with more elaborate and often larger foundations than a standard Piatt County farmhouse, with correspondingly larger crawl space or partial-basement areas to manage.
Local planning notes →Villa Grove
Villa Grove's original 1887 plat and the 1902-era Frisco division-point rebuild, chosen partly for the Embarras River's water supply, produced two distinct waves of construction close together in the same small town.
Local planning notes →