BLOOMINGTON -- McLean County is facing some changes in the next 25 years.

The county's population is expected to grow by more than 80,000, taking the county closer to the quarter of a million mark at 234,280 people.

It also has an aging baby boomer population that will bring new challenges in housing, transportation and health care, said Jennifer Sicks, transportation/land use planner for the McLean County Regional Planning Commission, at a joint meeting of the Bloomington and Normal city councils and McLean County Board on Monday night.

Those and other calculated projections were taken into consideration when a committee of community members made suggestions for an updated regional comprehension plan, she said.

The plan, which is designed to serve as a guide to sensible growth, will now go through a public input process at Bloomington and Normal planning commissions and the McLean County Land Use and Development Committee before the three bodies formally adopt it.

Among the suggestions in the nearly 200-page documents is investigating the creation of an urban area transit district with an independent taxing body.

The idea is designed to encourage broader use of the transit system, including from the Twin Cities to smaller communities throughout the county.

Currently, the Bloomington-Normal Public Transit System operates within the Twin Cities and SHOW BUS provides public transportation in rural areas.

The proposed plan also promotes neighborhoods that would embrace a mixture of income levels, ages and backgrounds. Sicks said the aging community doesn't want big houses and yards, so there also will be a need for smaller houses in a concentrated area.

Keeping the environment in mind, the plan also promotes such things as revitalizing areas and downtown development and continuing long-range planning for greenways, water supply and land use.