Peoria Heights Illinois IL Warrant Search

Peoria Heights, Illinois Peoria Heights is a village in Peoria County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 6,635 at the 2000 census. Peoria Heights is a suburb of Peoria and is surrounded by the city except for its eastern boundary on the Peoria Lake, a relatively wider section of the Illinois River. It is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Peoria Heights is located at 40°44′42″N 89°34′31″W / 40.745°N 89.57528°W / 40.745; -89.57528 (40.744987, -89.575244).According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 6.9 square miles (17.9 km²), of which, 2.6 square miles (6.8 km²) of it is land and 4.3 square miles (11.1 km²) of it (61.79%) is water. Topographically, the village can be roughly divided into three zones. The Illinois river floodplain (below the bluff), the bluff, and the plateau (atop the bluff). While its eastern border is relatively fixed with the river's edge the rest of its municipal border, with Peoria, is notoriously irregular and convoluted.The village is perhaps most noteworthy for its Grand View Drive, a residential street on top of the bluff overlooking the Illinois River with many elegant homes and a Country Club. The road also has several panoramic look-outs of the river and beyond into Tazwell and Woodford counties as well as a park with a children's playground, picnic area, and baseball diamond. Teddy Roosevelt purportedly called the street the 'World's Most Beautiful Drive' when he visited the Peoria area in 1910 and this is where WMBD, a local radio and TV station, gets its call letters.The town is also recognized by its distinct, red water tower sporting a sculpture of a Red-Headed Woodpecker. One can ascend the tower in an elevator and survey a sizable portion of Peoria, Tazewell, and Woodford county. The tower forms the nucleus of Peoria Heights Tower Park, a centerpiece of the community which underwent sweeping and controversial renovations in 2002 costing the Village nearly $800,000.00. The nearby downtown business area includes upscale restaurants and shops. In addition to this water tower there is another modern tower on Toledo Avenue colored a distinctive Red, White, and Blue (the school district colors).On and below the bluff, there are several parks and recreational areas. Forest Park Nature Center is a nature reserve on the bluff containing several miles of trails of varying difficulty and the village's only native prairie restoration site. The Pimiteoui Trail links up Forest Park Nature Center's visitor center with Grandview Drive. Beildfelt Park is a more traditional park with sports fields, a paved trail, children's playground, and picnic area. The southern terminus of Grandview also sports a park with swings, slide, and pavilion.The Duryea Automobile Company once had a production facility nearby (the reason for the aforementioned visit by Teddy Roosevelt). The town was the site of a brewery for Pabst Blue Ribbon. The closing of the Pabst Brewery in 1982 had a severe impact on the local economy and population, from which the community has never completely recovered. The Peoria City mass transit company, CityLink, offers a History Trolley, which starts its tour in the Prospect commercial sector. Governance and recent politics The Village of Peoria Heights is a home rule municipality governed by a Village Board of Trustees form of government. The legislative body (Village Board) consists of six trustees elected for a four-year term. Their terms are staggered, so that half are elected every two years. The Mayor is elected at large to a four-year term, as well as, the Village Clerk. The Mayor appoints the Village Treasurer. The Mayor is the Chief Executive Officer of the Village and presides over meetings of the Village Board. With the approval of the Village Board, the Mayor appoints non-elected Village officials.The six trustees of the Village Board are elected to serve overlapping four-year terms and may be elected for an indefinite number of terms. The Village Board formulates policy and enacts local laws, usually in the form of resolutions and ordinances. The Village Board is directly responsible to the citizens of Peoria Heights.The Village Clerk is the recording officer of the Village, elected at large for a four-year term. The Village Clerk is responsible for attending all meetings of the Village Board and keeping records of the proceedings. Village Board meetings are the first and third Tuesday of each month.Despite its small size Peoria Heights has a history of non-national political parties. In the 1990s the 'Village Party' rose to prominence, but a break-away party called the 'People's Party' later gained dominance with its leader, Earl Carter, serving several terms as Mayor. It also eventually boasted total dominance of village politics with members for every trustee position and the village clerk.A number of local disputes and apparent distrust of one-party rule led to the current mayor, Mark Allen, defeating Carter in a 2005 election and three People's Party incumbents being unseated and replaced with independent challengers. The People's Party lost another seat to an independent in 2007. In 2009 the incumbent independents all retained their seats against the People's Party candidates. Earl Carter attempted to regain his seat back from Mark Allen but was soundly defeated.The Village also has its own school district, District 325. The district nickname is 'The Patriots'. Peoria Heights Grade School and High School are located next to one another on Glen Avenue. Peoria Heights High School was built in the 1970s and is notable for its unique circular design. Most of the first floor classrooms are arrayed on the outside like spokes on a wheel. When first designed the classes were entirely open to the majority of the building, visible even from the upstairs offices, nicknamed 'the crow's nest'. They were later partitioned, first by dividers then by dry wall, constructed by the shop classes. Peoria Heights Grade School was built in the late 1990s and consolidated the Village's earlier two grade schools, Kelly Avenue Grade School and Monroe Grade School. It is recognizable for its large bicycle-shaped clock which used to be afixed to the front of Kelly Avenue School. St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Elementary School is another prominent school found in the village. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 6,635 people, 3,122 households, and 1,657 families residing in the village. The population density was 2,509.0 people per square mile (970.4/km²). There were 3,331 housing units at an average density of 1,259.6/sq mi (487.2/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 92.89% White, 3.45% African American, 0.32% Native American, 1.07% Asian, 1.06% from other races, and 1.22% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.90% of the population.There were 3,122 households out of which 22.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.5% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.9% were non-families. 39.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.10 and the average family size was 2.82.In the village the population was spread out with 20.3% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.6 males.The median income for a household in the village was $32,161, and the median income for a family was $42,545. Males had a median income of $33,408 versus $22,000 for females. The per capita income for the village was $20,999. About 6.7% of families and 8.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.3% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.