The Illinois Chapters of the APA and ASLA have planned a great conference in historic downtown Peoria on October 10-12, 2007. The conference will be held jointly with the American Society of Landscape Architects, and will have a green theme - "Illinois Renaissance: Planning - Building - Sustaining".

The conference will be held in the historic Pere Marquette Hotel in downtown Peoria, overlooking the Illinois River. The opening session will be on Wednesday, October 10 at 4:00 pm and feature a tour of historic buildings, redeveloping waterfront / warehouse district and culminate with a downtown pub crawl.

Topics include Landscape 101, Green roofs and conservation design, Effective cartography and mapping techniques, Developer negotiations, Ecological planning, Urban Redevelopment and Waterfront Development . Also covered are Form based codes, Community development- downtown revitalization & investment, LEED standards for neighborhood development, green building techniques, regenerative design practices, marketing your municipality & community, high speed rail, integrating land use and transportation planning, and ethics training

Mobile tours include the Heart of Peoria plan area - completed by Duany Plater-Zyberk, a tour or Renaissance Park (a 773-acre planned redevelopment area), and a tour of the revitalized riverfront and warehouse district. Other planned activities include a design charette for a small downtown park, the 10th annual President's Cup golf outing, annual awards luncheon and networking opportunities, and an ASLA guided tour of the Abraham Lincoln Museum on Saturday, 13 Oct 2007.

Plan on attending the APA Conference in Peoria October 10-12, 2007. http://www.ilapa.org/conf2007.html