Sarah Wilson
Communities Working Together to Address Shared Challenges
MPC is helping communities recognize and unleash the benefits of working together across governmental borders to tackle shared challenges. Even if all of the municipalities in the region had the staff capacity, political will and expertise to develop, implement and monitor the programs and policies necessary to address local development needs, many issues—such as housing, transportation and workforce development—do not adhere to municipal borders and can be more efficiently and effectively dealt with on an interjurisdictional basis. MPC is working with a variety of community collaborations around the region to help them address these issues. In addition, since 2011, MPC has been supporting the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning on Homes for a Changing Region, showing how communities can work together to meet their future housing needs based on projected demographic trends.
The following fact sheets outline policy reforms MPC is promoting to support interjurisdictional collaboration:
Public Private Partnerships for Workforce Stability
Efficient Investment to Revitalize Communities
The November 2011 edition of ProfitWise News and Views, published by the Community Development and Policy Studies Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, features Suburban Housing Collaboratives: a Case for Interjurisdictional Collaboration, a report that profiles the following four collaboratives in metropolitan Chicago. MPC, Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, and Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning co-authored a foreword to the Fed's paper, which provides important context for the report and highlights the need for policy, regulatory and finance reforms to make interjurisdictional collaboration easier, more effective, and more replicable.
Collaboratives:
Chicago Southland Housing and Community Development Collaborative – Blue Island, Calumet City, Dolton, Ford Heights, Harvey, Hazel Crest, Homewood, Lansing, Lynwood, Markham, Matteson, Midlothian, Oak Forest, Olympia Fields, Park Forest, Phoenix, Richton Park, South Chicago Heights, South Holland, Thornton
West Cook County Housing Collaborative – Bellwood, Berwyn, Forest Park, Maywood, Oak Park
North Suburban Housing Collaborative – Deerfield, Highland Park, Highwood, Lake Forest, Northbrook
Northwest Suburban Housing Collaborative – Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Mount Prospect, Palatine, Rolling Meadows
Articles
Multi-town collaboration is now an imperative-
- Almost five years ago, when MPC first started exploring interjurisdictional approaches to housing issues, the work was driven by common sense. Why should every town in our region try to tackle its housing challenges individually, especially when the issues – not to mention housing markets…
- Paving the way for multi-town collaboration
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- More than 100 community leaders, policy advocates and decision-makers gathered at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago on Monday, Nov. 7, 2011, to hear about successes, identify challenges, and discuss next steps for interjurisdictional collaboration, a burgeoning model to support high-impact…
- MPC Position Statements
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- To advance the Metropolitan Planning Council’s (MPC) goal of creating a more sustainable, equitable, and competitive Chicago region, MPC takes official positions on a broad range of federal, state and local policies and issues.
Recent positions
Letter to U.S. Rep Dave Camp and Sander…
CMAP announces technical assistance grantees-
- The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s (CMAP) comprehensive plan for northeastern Illinois, GO TO 2040, was approved in October 2010. Now the region’s collective challenge is how to implement it.
With a $4.25 million grant from the Sustainable Communities Initiative, CMAP will…
New employer incentives available to help workers 'go green'-
- MPC hiring for a new position that will guide these programs
The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and stakeholders advancing the Chicago Climate Action Plan are bringing new incentives to the table for both City of Chicago and regional employers to help their employees make more…
More related articles »
Multimedia
2012 Plan for Prosperity: Innovative Solutions for the New Normal-
- Publication
- (1 MB)
- Jan 12, 2012
- To read MPC's 2012 Plan for Prosperity, download the file. The following is MPC President MarySue Barrett's introductory letter.
Sometimes, things aren’t what they seem. For decades, the United States enjoyed what appeared to be boundless economic expansion. Consumers spent and borrowed…
Antonio Riley - Remarks at Nov. 7 Interjurisdictional Collaboration Conference-
- Antonio Riley, midwest administrator, US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, recorded introductory remarks for the Nov. 7, 2011 conference on interjurisdictional collaboration.
Suburban Housing Collaboratives: a Case for Interjurisdictional Collaboration-
- Publication
- (4 MB)
- Nov 8, 2011
- Foreword by Metropolitan Planning Council, Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, and Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
The November 2011 edition of ProfitWise News and Views, written by Susan Longworth and published by the Community Development and Policy Studies Division of the Federal Reserve Bank…
Implementing GO TO 2040: A Plan for Chicagoland's Future; We Have a Plan: Let’s Do It-
- Listen to this April 27, 2011, roundtable, the third in the three-part series, “Implementing GO TO 2040: A Plan for Chicagoland’s Future,” co-sponsored by MPC and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. The series explored how – in an ever-expanding world economy…
Linking Housing to Prosperity: Successes & Opportunities-
- Listen to this recording of MPC's Oct. 23, 2009, roundtable featuring a panel discussion on local workforce housing successes and opportunities to shape federal investments to promote more livable communities. Panelists were Dorothy Shaw, director of state & local affairs for Northrop Grumman…
More related multimedia »
Links
Regional Home Ownership Preservation Initiative- Arising out of a series of planning meetings held in the fall of 2008, Regional HOPI is a network of organizations working collaboratively to address the foreclosure crisis in order to develop and implement more coordinated and robust regional responses.
Working together, public, private and non-profit agencies are developing and implementing joint responses which: build on existing efforts; are actionable and feasible to accomplish; are replicable across the metro area or scalable to the… More info »
- Housing Trust of Santa Clara County
- The Housing Trust of Santa Clara County is a nonprofit organization created to be a catalyst for developing needed housing in Silicon Valley. Contributions from local employers and employer foundations, the County government, and all 15 Santa Clara County municipalities fund the trust. MPC hopes to emulate the strong corporate support achieved by this entity. More info »
- A Regional Coalition for Housing (ARCH)
- ARCH is a voluntary organization in suburban Seattle created in 1992 to establish a collaborative approach to solving local housing issues. Three cities and King County started ARCH, which has now grown to include 15 cities and the county. Members pool financial resources through a joint Housing Trust Fund, share best practices, and coordinate planning efforts. ARCH has served as an inspiration for MPC’s work on interjurisdictional housing strategies. More info »
- Metropolitan Mayors Caucus Housing Action Agenda
- The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus is a caucus of metropolitan Chicago’s 272 mayors working together to address shared economic development and affordable housing issues and more. Through the Housing Action Agenda, the Mayors Caucus is working to create safe, decent and affordable housing opportunities for all people in every community in the region. More info »
More related links »
Notable News
On Dec. 3, 2011, the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development and Illinois Dept. of Commerce and Economic Opportunity announced $7.1 million in grants to support the West Cook County Housing Collaborative's transit-oriented housing redevelopment strategy.
Read Suburban Housing Collaboratives: a Case for Interjurisdictional Collaboration, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the report's foreword by MPC, Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, and Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. Read a recap of the Nov. 7 Mayor Developer Forum, at which the Fed's paper was released.
The Northwest Suburban Housing Collaborative recently formalized its joint efforts via an intergovernmental agreement and has hired a shared housing coordinator, Mary Lu Seidel, who started this month.
Both the south and west collaboratives recently received funding from the Illinois Dept. of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to deal with foreclosed and vacant properties. This $9 million will supplement the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funding previously awarded to the collaboratives and will be used to demolish blighted properties and rehab homes to bring them back to productive use.
In May 2011, The Chicago Community Trust renewed funding for the Chicago Southland Housing and Community Development Collaborative and the West Cook County Housing Collaborative for the third year, while the Northwest Suburban Housing Collaborative was added as a grant recipient. In September, the Grand Victoria Foundation renewed its support for the south and west collaboratives.
In October 2010, the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association (SSMMA) was awarded a U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Sustainable Communities Challenge Grant for $2.35 million to advance the SSMMA’s strategic redevelopment plan for Chicago’s southern suburbs. The Chicago Southland Housing and Community Development Collaborative is a key player in SSMMA’s redevelopment effort, particularly around housing issues. Read MPC's press release here.
The West Cook County Housing Collaborative was awarded more than $3 million dollars through Cook County's Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) to address the sub-region’s foreclosed and vacant property issues. One of the projects under this grant is the Maywood Apartments, a 26 unit rental property in Maywood that broke ground in March 2011.
