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 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, Riverdale, Sauk Village, South Chicago Heights, South Holland, Thornton
West Cook County Housing Collaborative – Bellwood, Berwyn, Forest Park, Maywood, Oak Park
Northwest Suburban Housing Collaborative – Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Mount Prospect, Palatine, Rolling Meadows
North Suburban Collaboration – Deerfield, Highland Park, Highwood, Lake Forest, Northbrook
Articles
- MPC by the Numbers: 2012 Edition
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- What a year 2012 has been! Just as news outlets look back at the year in headlines, here at MPC we think there's value in taking a moment to reflect on the milestones we've reached over the past 12 months. MPC by the Numbers is a numeric snapshot of these accomplishments, drawn primarily from data…
Urban Exchange brings together two mayors determined to bring their cities back-
- Duluth, Minn., and Gary, Ind.: Aside from the obvious differences in racial demographics – Gary is 84 percent African American and Duluth is 90 percent White – the similarities are uncanny. These two mid-sized towns have grappled for decades with the loss of industry. As a result,…
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 the Chicago Metropolitan Agency…
More related articles »
Multimedia
- MPC and ULI Chicago Roundtable—Cook County Land Bank: Returning Vacant Land to Productive Use
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- Audio recording of the Feb. 7, 2013 MPC and ULI Chicago roundtable on the Cook County Land Bank. A video recording is also available.
Managing Single-Family Rental Homes (White Paper)-
- Publication
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- Jan 24, 2013
- As the foreclosure crisis enters its seventh year, a growing number of single-family homes in the Chicago metropolitan area – some already foreclosed, some in the process of foreclosure – are being rented. Some are being rented by people who have lost their homes, while others are being…
- MPC Roundtable - The Future of Interjurisdictional Collaboration, a New Model for Housing and Community Development
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- Presentation from an MPC roundtable on the future of interjurisdictional collabortation.
- MPC Roundtable - The Future of Interjurisdictional Collaboration, a New Model for Housing and Community Development
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- Full audio recording of the Dec. 2012 Interjurisdictional Collaboration roundtable. A video recording is also available.
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 »
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.