Visitors to Peoria often enjoy the sweeping river vistas along Grandview Drive, a bluff-side road that U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt called "the most beautiful drive in the world" after driving it in 1910. In fact, the spot is so popular that local radio station WMBD took its call letters from that phrase: "World's Most Beautiful Drive."

Rita Ali was elected on April 21, 2021, finishing just 43 votes ahead of her opponent, councilman Jim Montelongo. Ali was sworn in two weeks later on May 4, becoming both the first woman and the first African American to serve as mayor of Peoria.