Kankakee, Illinois

Kankakee is a city in Kankakee County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 25,561, and 26,840 as of a 2009 estimate. It is the county seat of Kankakee County. Kankakee is a principal city of the Kankakee–Bradley Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Kankakee County.

Geography
Kankakee is located at 41.12°N, -87.86°W (41.12, -87.86).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.8 square miles (33.0 km²), of which, 12.3 square miles (31.8 km²) of it is land and 0.5 square miles (1.2 km²) of it (3.76%) is water.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 27,561 people, 10,020 households and 6,272 families residing within the city. The population density was 2,239.8 people per square mile (865.1/km²). There were 10,965 housing units at an average density of 893.4 per square mile (345.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 50.92% White, 41.07% African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 5.50% from other races, and 1.90% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.25% of the population.

There were 10,020 households out of which 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.4% were married couples living together, 21.2% have a female householder with no husband present, and 37.4% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.28.

In the city the population was spread out with 29.5% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 18.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 91.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,469, and the median income for a family was $36,428. Males had a median income of $30,894 versus $22,928 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,479. About 18.1% of families and 21.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.3% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over.

Government
Kankakee is governed by the mayor council system. The city council consists of fourteen members who elected from seven wards (two per ward). The mayor and city clerk are elected in a citywide vote. Library service is provided by the Kankakee Public Library.

Rail Transportation
Amtrak, the national passenger rail service, provides service to Kankakee. Amtrak Train 59 (the southbound City of New Orleans), is scheduled to depart Kankakee at 9:23pm daily with service to Champaign-Urbana, Mattoon, Effingham, Centralia, Carbondale, Fulton, Newbern-Dyersburg, Memphis, Greenwood, Yazoo City, Jackson, Hazlehurst, Brookhaven, McComb, Hammond, and New Orleans. Amtrak Train 58, the northbound City of New Orleans, is scheduled to depart Kankakee at 7:13am daily with service to Homewood and Chicago. Kankakee is also served by Amtrak Train 390/391, the Saluki, daily in the morning, and Amtrak Train 392/393, the Illini, daily in the afternoon/evening. Both the Saluki and the Illini operate between Chicago and Carbondale.

Kankakee Valley Park District
Kankakee Valley Park District has 28 parks with a total of 600 acre all together. Facilities include a vita course, an ice skating rink, 5 Field houses, Civic Auditorium, 96-slip marina, 13 baseball diamonds, 15 football fields, 24 playgrounds, 15 basketball courts, 24 tennis courts, 5 boat landings, a bandshell, and 25 recreational groups and clubs.

College
Organized in 1966 by a group of citizens, Kankakee Community College was established to provide a post-secondary educational resource for the people of the Kankakee area. The college offered its first classes in September 1968. It serves as an educational, vocational, and recreational center for residents of Community College District 520, an area encompassing all or part of Kankakee County, Iroquois County, Ford County, Grundy County, Livingston County, and Will County and serving a population of approximately 150,000. In its College Credit Division, KCC awards associate degrees, associate in Applied Science degrees and certificates of completion. Students attend KCC both to prepare to transfer to four-year institutions and complete bachelor's degrees and to prepare to enter the job market directly from KCC. Kankakee Community College serves over 6,000 students annually and the average class size is 16. The ratio of part-time to full-time students at Kankakee Community College is 3 to 1.

High schools
The City of Kankakee is home to 4 high schools, Kankakee High School, Bishop Martin D. McNamara, Grace Baptist Academy and Kankakee Trinity Academy. Kankakee High School is the public high school for the city and is the most populated school in Kankakee. Bishop McNamara, Kankakee Trinity Academy and Grace Baptist Academy are private high schools. Bishop McNamara is a Catholic high school, Kankakee Trinity Academy is a Inter-Denominational Christian School while Grace Baptist is Independent Baptist.

In popular culture

 * The movie, "The Unborn" (2009), was partially filmed in Samuel H. Shapiro Developmental Center in Kankakee. Other movies to have been filmed in Kankakee County are "The Hunter" (1980), Child's Play (1988), "Chain Reaction" (1996), "Road to Perdition" (2002), "Adia" (2006, short film), "The Missing Peace" (2006, short film), "The Merry Gentleman" (2008), and "Demon Joe" (2009).
 * Kankakee has been immortalized in the folk song, "City of New Orleans", written by Steve Goodman. The best known version was performed by Arlo Guthrie in 1972 and appeared on the album "Hobo's Lullaby". The song represents classic Americana and is ostensibly about rail-life, telling the story of a southbound train ride originating from Kankakee.
 * Kankakee is also mentioned in several other songs, including:
 * "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" (1939) written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg. It first appeared in the 1939 Marx Brothers movie "At the Circus" and became a sort of anthem for Groucho Marx in the years that followed.
 * "Circus" by Tom Waits, from the 2004 album "Real Gone"
 * "Innocent Bessie Brown", words and music by Irving Berlin, written in 1910, sung by the Broadway performer Ethel Green
 * "They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!", words and music by Sufjan Stevens, from his 2005 album "Illinoise".

Interesting facts

 * In 1999, Kankakee County [not just the City of Kankakee] was rated the worst metropolitan area to live in (out of 354 rated metropolitan areas) in the United States and Canada by the Places Rated Almanac. Late night television host David Letterman gave the city two identical gazebos, hoping the town could turn itself around as the "Home Of The Twin Gazebos". City leaders have since improved on this ranking by bringing in a water park, ice rink, revitalizing downtown, and other community improvement projects.
 * Frank Lloyd Wright designed two houses in the Riverview section of the city, located on South Harrison Ave. The B. Harley Bradley House & Stable and the Warren Hickox House both still stand today.
 * Although the first Dairy Queen was opened in Joliet, Illinois in 1940, Sherb Noble first tested the Dairy Queen idea in Kankakee in 1938.
 * Notable people from Kankakee include actor Fred MacMurray (Double Indemnity, My Three Sons), pro basketball player Jack Sikma, Olympic distance runner Joie Ray, pro football players Jimmy Smith and Ted Petersen, Major League baseball catcher Tom Prince, college basketball coach Harv Schmidt, former Illinois governors Lennington Small, Samuel H. Shapiro and George Ryan and Little Orphan Annie creator Harold Grey, Randy Spears (Actor).