Northlake Begins Community Planning Project

The City of Northlake, with the assistance of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), is developing a comprehensive plan that will provide a roadmap for reaching the community’s long-term physical, socioeconomic, and cultural goals.  As part of that effort, the City is inviting local residents, business owners, community leaders, and other stakeholders to attend a special community planning event.

To be held on Thursday, June 21, 2012, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Sandra Vasquez Community Center (316 N. LaPorte Ave, Northlake, IL 60164), this workshop will feature an interactive brainstorming exercise in which participants can state their preferences for the future of Northlake.

Together, the City of Northlake, local residents, business owners, property owners, and community stakeholders will explore opportunities in land use planning, residential and commercial development, transportation, parks and open space, and numerous other aspects important to the City of Northlake.

For information or to RSVP, contact Cynthia Hernandez of CMAP (312-386-8623 or chernandez@cmap.illinois.gov).  Learn more about the project by visiting www.cmap.illinois.gov/northlake.

The planning process will include three phases, with public input as a key component of each phase. The first phase will involve a thorough analysis of the existing conditions within the community using information gathered through one-on-one stakeholder interviews, steering committee meetings, focus group workshops, public meetings, review of previous studies, and available demographic and economic data.   Phase two will focus on creating a vision for the future of Northlake by identifying goals and objectives based on findings from the Phase one analysis and a public visioning workshop.  The final phase will combine efforts from previous phases to create the comprehensive plan document containing policies, programs, and actions steps to be undertaken in order to achieve the community’s future vision for Northlake.   

HUD and CMAP build capacity for local planning

Especially in challenging economic times, many communities have difficulty allocating enough resources to plan as proactively as they would prefer.  At the same time, proactive planning is necessary for economic prosperity and protecting community assets.  The U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-funded effort is helping fill this gap by making staff resources and grants available to assist with local planning projects that help to implement GO TO 2040, the first comprehensive plan for metropolitan Chicago in more than 100 years. 

The HUD grant to CMAP was announced one day after leaders of the seven-county region, on October 13, 2010, unanimously adopted GO TO 2040.  The region’s plan establishes coordinated strategies that help the region’s 284 communities address transportation, housing, economic development, open space, the environment, and other quality-of-life issues.  See www.cmap.illinois.gov for more information.

With the three-year $4.25 million HUD award (http://www.cmap.illinois.gov/press-release-10-14-10), CMAP launched a Local Technical Assistance program sponsored by HUD as part of the federal interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities. CMAP issued a call for projects in early 2011, prompting more than 220 proposals from over 130 municipalities, counties, interjurisdictional groups, and nongovernmental organizations -- an indication of significant unmet demand for local planning capacity. 

In March 2011, CMAP began partnering with the first wave of 62 local governments, nonprofits, and intergovernmental organizations selected for assistance.  Like the Northlake effort, these projects address local issues at the intersection of transportation, land use, and housing, including the natural environment, economic growth, and community development.  Download a full list of projects at http://goo.gl/1nYBM.  A new call for projects is now on-line, with applications due August 1, 2012.

CMAP is the official regional planning organization for the northeastern Illinois counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will. 

Media contact:  Justine Reisinger, 312-386-8802 or jreisinger@cmap.illinois.gov

Program contact:  Pete Saunders, 312-386-8654 or psaunders@cmap.illinois.gov