Graduate students from Dr. Aaron Guest’sHCA 509 Interventions to Support Aging in Placecourse collaborated with the City of Peoria’sNeighborhood and Human Services department to thoroughly review the City’s resources for its senior population. Based on the World HealthOrganization’s Age-friendly Cities Framework and the AARP LivableCommunities resources, students identified eight topical categories to organize resources for older persons, including Staying Active and Involved, Getting Around, Housing and In-Home Assistance, Food and Nutrition Services, Staying Healthy, Staying Safe, Helping PeopleWho Care for Others, and Guiding People Through the Grieving Process. Students reviewed resource guides from other cities, as well as contacted local community organizations to develop a resource guide that includes information about Peoria’s Community Center, its programming, and resources regarding housing, food assistance, and transportation.

As electric vehicles gain popularity for their ability to reduce vehicle emissions and minimize long-term maintenance costs, especially with increasing flexibility of charging infrastructure, the City of Peoria is interested in addressing the sustainability of its municipal fleet and is specifically looking to adapt its fleet to include electric vehicles. Considering the existing fleet infrastructure, the City is interested in the associated costs and infrastructure needed to support the adoption of electric fleet vehicles, as well as opportunities for optimized charging locations.

Master of Science in Environmental and Resource Management graduate student Annie Grimshaw from Al Brown’sERM 593: Applied Project conducted research to gauge the feasibility of a scaled-up green waste collection program. The research explores possible disposal options for the City of Peoria and the processes and costs associated with a municipal green waste recycling program. The report provides an overview of the benefits and challenges of green waste composting, followed by three case studies of peer community green waste programs. The case studies emphasize the importance of public-private partnerships when implementing a green waste program, largely due to its cost-saving benefits.

Following the case studies, the report details the process of converting green waste into the soil to demonstrate to Peoria the composting services companies can provide. A cost-benefit analysis details the net saving of diverting green waste from landfills. While private companies will likely charge more than expected for green waste, there are long-term savings in reducing transportation costs for a municipal collection program. Recommendations are provided to highlight how Peoria can successfully scale a green waste collection program. The goal of this report is for Peoria to use the information provided to identify a trustworthy partnership. The names and information about private green waste processing vendors are provided to the City of Peoria to consider in its green waste efforts. A City-wide green waste recycling program should increase community involvement and create a more sustainable city.

Student researchers in CPP 201: Next Generation Service Corps (NGSC) Community Impact Lab, a course focused on service learning opportunities and human-centered design, were faced with the challenge of increasing ridership of the Peoria on the Go (POGO) public circulator, specifically youth ridership ages 12-18. Students identified two root causes of low youth ridership during their research: general perception of public transportation and a lack of services dedicated to the needs of youth riders. To address these targeted issues, student researchers developed strategies to understand further the community perception of public transportation. Youth community members were surveyed and interviewed, and their responses were used to establish directly beneficial suggestions for improving the POGO system. Recommendations detailed in this report will address community perceptions of transportation, strategic route and schedule adjustment, a variety of marketing and educational opportunities, and mobile application improvement.

Making public transportation more accessible and attractive to youth residents in Peoria can be a critical stride in establishing a culture of sustainability throughout the city. Through key improvements to the POGO system and a regular, systematic gathering of feedback, POGO has the potential to become a well-used community amenity that serves the residents and tourists alike while contributing to sustainable transportation practices.

The potential applications and implementation strategies of smart technologies and infrastructure are numerous. Additionally, by fulfilling community needs and enhancing services, smart technologies can impact a community’s economic and environmental sustainability, as well as happiness and well-being. The rollout and implementation of new technology needs to be informed by community preferences and attitudes, as residents may have varying levels of comfort with regards to privacy and other considerations. Smart technologies are also not static, as technology is constantly evolving; thus a city framework for technology implementation should reflect that reality by being adaptable and responsive to new data, and also proactive in its implementation initiatives.

To help narrow the scope and maximize their research impact, students focused on a few key groupings of smart city technologies, which they determined to have a high community value and perceived impact. The teams studied technology in the role of public safety, including police and fire department applications, and enhancement of the public sphere, specifically parks, trails, libraries, and iconic spaces in Peoria. Students collected data from government resources, academic literature, interviews with Peoria staff and subject matter experts, product research, and a survey of residents. The students’ recommendations focused on technologies that would be useful, feasible, scalable, sustainable, and easy to implement. Students suggest that Peoria should aim to consider any future technology integration as part of a broader, planned framework approach, targeted on partnerships, public policy, inter-agency connectivity, and infrastructure.

The potential applications and implementation strategies of smart technologies and infrastructure are numerous. Additionally, by fulfilling community needs and enhancing services, smart technologies can impact a community’s economic and environmental sustainability, as well as happiness and well-being. The rollout and implementation of new technology need to be informed by community preferences and attitudes, as residents may have varying levels of comfort with regard
to privacy and other considerations. Smart technologies are also not static, as technology is constantly evolving; thus a city framework for technology implementation should reflect that reality by being adaptable and responsive to new data and also proactive in its implementation initiatives.

To help narrow the scope and maximize their research impact, students focused on a few key groupings of smart city technologies, which they determined to have a high community value and perceived impact. The teams studied technology in the role of public safety, including police and fire department applications and enhancement of the public sphere, specifically parks, trails, libraries, and iconic spaces in Peoria. Students collected data from government resources, academic literature,
interviews with Peoria staff and subject matter experts, product research, and a survey of residents. The student recommendations focused on technologies that would be useful, feasible, scalable, sustainable, and easy to implement. Students suggest that Peoria should aim to consider any future technology integration as part of a broader, planned framework approach targeted at partnerships, public policy, inter-agency connectivity, and infrastructure.