Home Grown: Local Housing Strategies in Action

In December 2007, the Caucus released Volume 2 of Home Grown: Local Housing Strategies in Action. Originally released at the end of 2006, Home Grown contained more than 35 housing-related Best Practices from the Chicago region, and was created in partnership with Chicago Metropolis 2020 and the Metropolitan Planning Council. We have now produced 16 additional Best Practices to add to the original binder.

Home Grown shows municipal officials how their peers are addressing housing issues and provides ideas for replicating or improving upon these approaches to address their own local housing challenges. This collection demonstrates that many exciting, innovative, local efforts are contributing to a quality, diverse housing stock that meets the needs of a variety of residents in our region.

Each best practices summary focuses on how a program, policy or development came about, how it works, why it has been successful, and how it is financed. While many of the best practices address affordable housing issues, other topics, such as fair housing and accessibility, are included in the binder. In many cases, we include information on how the public was involved in the process, and what lessons the community learned, including what local leaders would do differently in hindsight.

This publication is meant to be an ongoing resource. Therefore, the partners will continue to update the binder regularly with new best practices summaries. If any community would like to submit a program or development, please contact Beth Dever with the Caucus. To download a copy of Home Grown, follow this link: http://www.metroplanning.org/homegrown/
For more information, please feel free to contact Beth Dever (beth.dever@mayorscaucus.org; 312.201.4507).

Foreclosure Prevention Meeting.

On July 9, 2007, the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus partnered with the City of Chicago to present “Innovative Foreclosure Prevention Strategies: Keeping Communities Stable.”

At this meeting, attendees discussed how foreclosures are becoming a growing problem in the region and across the nation, and how foreclosures impact municipalities as well as the individuals losing their homes. The meeting also focused on efforts to prevent foreclosures in Chicago, DuPage and Lake Counties and nationally in order to highlight some best practice examples. Speakers included housing expert Mark Duda, Mayor Daley, Bruce Gottschall from Neighborhood Housing Services Chicago, Donna Sheline with JP Morgan Chase Bank, Sheila McCann with the DuPage Homeownership Center and Lisa C. Tapper from the Affordable Housing Corporation of Lake County. Housing Committee Co-Chairs Mayors Rita Mullins and Zenovia Evans led the meeting and directed the discussion throughout the day.

For more information or to obtain materials from the meeting, please contact Beth Dever with the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus: 312.201.4507 or beth.dever@mayorscaucus.org.

The Caucus and the Housing Task Force are moving forward on a detailed plan to create a bright housing future.

In 2002, the Caucus approved the Housing Task Force's Housing Endorsement Criteria and Housing Action Agenda. The Housing Endorsement Criteria provides general principles regarding the type of housing communities should be working to develop and attract. The Housing Action Agenda lays out proactive steps toward the goal of affordable, quality housing.

May 2006 Housing Seminars

The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus partnered with the Metropolitan Planning Council and Business and Professional People for the Public Interest to host three seminars on the creation and preservation of workforce housing in the Chicago region. The seminars were held in Wheaton on May 10, 16 and 18 and featured the topics of maintaining affordability in the long term, how to use zoning and land-use policies to encourage affordability, and how to fund affordable housing efforts, respectively.

These seminars were targeted at municipal officials and included an explanation of various tools and discussion of their use across the nation and by Chicago-area communities. The strategies discussed at these seminars can be used by any municipality in order to provide a balance of housing for its residents and workforce.

Please see the flyer below for more details. For more information or materials from the seminars, please feel free to contact Beth Dever (beth.dever@mayorscaucus.org; 312.201.4507).

Will the Homes We're Building Today Meet the Needs of Tomorrow?

The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and Chicago Metropolis 2020 are pleased to present Homes for a Changing Region, a report which examines the changing demographics of the six-county Chicago region and forecasts how the new population will affect housing demand between 2000 and 2030.

The report identifies a serious mismatch between the type of housing being planned and the housing that is likely to be needed by the region’s growing population. The region’s population is predicted to increase by 24 percent from 8.1 million in 2000 to 10 million people in 2030. Latinos, African-Americans and seniors over the age of 65 will account for most of this growth. The types of housing inhabited by these groups today is much different than the housing now being planned, constructed and rehabilitated.

Homes for a Changing Region provides a number of recommendations for increasing housing options across the region. We encourage public and private sector decision makers to use these proposals to foster debate and action on diversifying the region’s housing stock.

For more information, please feel free to contact Beth Dever (beth.dever@mayorscaucus.org; 312.201.4507).

Housing Video Now Available

The Caucus' Housing Task Force worked with the Metropolitan Planning Council to create a housing video. Welcome Home: Housing Our Community features mayors, state representatives, residents and employers discussing the benefits of affordable housing. The video is meant to be used at local meetings to begin a conversation about a proposed affordble housing development or policy. To view the video, please click on the link below. To obtain a copy of the Video or schedule a presentation, please contact Beth Dever with the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus: 312.201.4507 or beth.dever@mayorscaucus.org.

Guidelines for a Model Affordable Housing Plan.

The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus helped communities to comply with Public Act 93-0595, the Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act. Under this law, 10% of a municipality's housing stock must be affordable. If a community has more than 10% affordable housing, or has a population of less than 1,000, it is exempt. Non-exempt communities were required to submit an affordable housing plan to the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) by April 1, 2005.

In response to the law, the Mayors Caucus, local Councils of Governments (COGs), and the Metropolitan Planning Council convened an ad-hoc committee to produce guidelines for a model affordable housing plan. These guidelines can be used as a foundation for a non-exempt community’s plan – each town will have to adapt its plan to its own circumstances and situation; however, the model will be there as a starting point. This committee includes municipal staff from around the region, COG staff, a municipal attorney, a representative from IHDA, and housing and planning experts.

The Guidelines for a Model Affordable Housing Plan were approved by the Mayors Caucus' Housing Task Force on April 14, 2004. The Guidelines were sent out to the COGs for their review and approval, and are now official.

For information on any of these activities, or for information on the Affordable Housing and Planning Appeal Act in general, contact Beth Dever with the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus: 312.201.4507 or beth.dever@mayorscaucus.org.