New 2011 Housing and Community Development Action Agenda

In 2001, the Housing Task Force of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus developed its first “Housing Action Agenda” which outlined proactive steps toward the full range of quality housing options for the diversity of households that call this region home. The document was approved by the entire Caucus in 2002.  In 2011, the new Housing and Community Development Committee of the Mayors Caucus revisited the Action Agenda to reflect changes in the region’s housing market and the economy, as well as the Committee’s updated commitment to address municipalities’ housing needs in conjunction with transportation, economic and workforce development, land use and infrastructure planning. The 2011 Housing and Community Development Action Agenda reflects our current work and future priorities.

Recent Work:

Homes for a Changing Region South Suburban Report Released 

Over the last fourteen months, four organizations – the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus (MMC), the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association (SSMMA), the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), and the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) have partnered on a forward-looking housing planning exercise with four communities in south suburban Cook County – Hazel Crest, Lansing, Olympia Fields and Park Forest. With the ongoing technical support of Fregonese Associates and CMAP, the four-partner team has worked with municipal officials and their staffs to develop housing policy action plans for each of the participating communities. The partners have also looked at current and projected housing data for the entire south suburban subregion and have developed some general recommendations. You may download the final report here.

 The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus is currently working on additional Homes for a Changing Region reports with the West Cook County Housing Collaborative (Oak Park, Forest Park, Maywood, Bellwood and Berwyn) and the Northwest Suburban Housing Collaborative (Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect, Rolling Meadows, Palatine and Buffalo Grove).

 For questions about the project, please contact Allison Milld, Director of Housing Initiatives at amilld@mayorscaucus.org or (312) 201-4507.

Suburban Housing Collaboratives: a Case for Interjurisdictional Collaboration

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 of Chicago, features Suburban Housing Collaboratives: a Case for Interjurisdictional Collaboration.  Click here for the report.  The report profiles four clusters of neighboring communities in metropolitan Chicago that are addressing similar and unique housing and economic development challenges by working together across municipal borders, and with the private and philanthropic sectors, to prioritize and leverage resources and have the greatest local and regional impact.

Known as interjurisdictional collaboration, this new model is being supported by a variety of partners across the region, including the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC), and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. These three groups co-authored a foreword to the Fed's paper (download here), which provides important context for the report. They describe the effort communities and regional partners have committed to achieve what they have to-date; and the need for policy, regulatory and finance reforms to make interjurisdictional collaboration easier, more effective, and more replicable. We encourage you to read the foreword, which lays the groundwork for the Caucus and its partners to advance these reforms in the coming months and years. 

Northwest Suburban Housing Collaborative Hires Housing Coordinator

Multifamily Resource Guide Available

On November 17, 2010, owners and managers of multifamily buildings in the northwest suburbs of Cook County met with municipal leaders to discuss the long-term sustainability of their properties. Approximately 70 people were in attendance at the meeting, representing more than 3,500 apartments and condominiums. Those who attended received a copy of the new Multifamily Resource Guide, a list of public and private sector resources for energy assistance, financing, preservation, tenant relations, and more.

Arlington Heights Mayor Arlene Mulder and Rolling Meadows Mayor Ken Nelson hosted the event, in partnership with the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, the Metropolitan Planning Council, the Preservation Compact, and others. In their invitation to owners of multifamily properties, they wrote: “We are committed to working to ensure that [your] properties continue to be stable and vibrant community assets for residents and the surrounding neighborhood. Needless to say, we recognize that today’s economy places additional challenges on the shoulders of owners, municipal leaders, and residents.” 

At the event, Allison Clark of the MacArthur Foundation addressed both economic and social trends that have informed the Preservation Compact, a regional strategy to address the loss of affordable rental housing in Cook County. Roberto Requejo of The Chicago Community Trust focused on foreclosure data that sparked the creation of the Regional Home Ownership Preservation Initiative in 2008, the regional response to the foreclosure crisis. The event also featured a panel of speakers who discussed resources available to help multifamily property owners maintain stable, vibrant properties. They highlighted several keystone initiatives of the Preservation Compact, as well as the new Suburban Cook County Multifamily Preservation Initiative, a new financing program that encourages the rehabilitation of quality rental homes by creating a “one-stop financing shop” for experienced multifamily owners and developers.  

The event was organized by a number of partners including: the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, the Metropolitan Planning Council, Cook County, Chicagoland Apartment Association, the Community Investment Corporation, the Preservation Compact, and the Urban Land Institute.

For questions about any of these resources, please contact Allison Milld, Director of Housing Initiatives at the Caucus: 312.201.4507 or amilld@mayorscaucus.org.

Vacant Property Resources

The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus recently worked with Business and Professional People for the Public Interest and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) to create two vacant property resources. These documents were written to help municipalities as they work to address one of the many awful consequences of the foreclosure crisis – the enormous increase in the number of vacant properties. In some communities, a few vacant properties with overgrown lawns and an accumulation of trash cause problems for neighbors. In others, troubled buildings attract scavengers, squatters, and gangs and lead to an increase in crime and a decrease in property values. And in some communities with many foreclosed properties, the crisis threatens to doom the entire neighborhood to a cycle of disinvestment and decay. A cluster of vacant properties can destabilize a block. A cluster of troubled blocks can destabilize a neighborhood.

The first document, How Can Municipalities Confront the Vacant Property Challenge?, is an introductory guide. It provides a brief overview of nine tools that have proven most effective as municipalities have worked to reduce the negative impact of vacant properties, stabilize neighborhoods, and promote healthy and vibrant neighborhoods. It is intended to help municipalities begin to determine which programs and policies are most appropriate for them.

The second document, How Can Municipalities Confront the Vacant Property Challenge? A Toolkit, will help municipalities develop and implement these programs and policies. It provides more detailed information about how to put these tools into use. The Toolkit also discusses best practices and provides links to additional resources.

For questions about either of these resources, please contact Allison Milld, Director of Housing Initiatives at the Caucus: 312.201.4507 or amilld@mayorscaucus.org.

Home Grown: Local Housing Strategies in Action

This collection—compiled by the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, Chicago Metropolis 2020, and Metropolitan Planning Council—describes a number of housing “best practices” implemented by local governments around the Chicago metropolitan region. The intent is to show local policymakers and practitioners how their peers are addressing housing issues, and spark ideas for replicating or improving upon these approaches to address their own local housing challenges. This collection demonstrates that 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 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 booklet. Where applicable, 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. Each document also includes information for the people responsible for the initiative, and users are encouraged to contact them for further information. 

The first version of Home Grown was originally released at the end of 2006. This publication is meant to be an ongoing resource. Therefore, the partners have and 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 Allison Milld with the Caucus: 312.201.4507 or amilld@mayorscaucus.org To download a copy of Home Grown, follow this link: Download publication

Summaries new for 2010

Housing Policy and Governance
City of St. Charles Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance
Arlington Height's Multifamily Affordable Housing Policy

Housing Development
First Street, St. Charles

Housing Program
Loyola University Chicago University-Assisted Housing Program

Financing
Chicago Community Land Trust

Previous Work/Accomplishments in Housing:

Housing 1-2-3: A Workbook for Local Officials and Community Leaders

This workbook was produced by the Caucus, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, Metropolitan Planning Council and Illinois Housing Council . It serves as a guide to housing planning, creation and preservation. Loaded with how-to advice, and the right questions to ask your community, Housing 1-2-3 is easy to use and provides guidance on many of the issues surrounding housing, including:
• How to assess a community’s true demand for housing of all types and price points
• Identifying ways to bring higher quality housing into areas with a preponderance of lower value homes
• Dealing with aging rental properties in need of new management or rehabilitation
• Ensuring that new developments meet community needs, and are well-managed
• Identifying private and public sector resources to advance housing goals
• Partnerships as part of the housing preservation/creation process
• Finding resources to support local efforts

We hope that Housing 1-2-3 will be a useful tool as municipalities think creatively about ways to preserve, rehabilitate and build a quality and diverse housing stock. For information on the workbook, as well as with any other questions or comments, please contact Allison Milld at the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus: 312.201.4507 or amilld@mayorscaucus.org. The document is also available for download by clicking on Housing 1-2-3 .

Retail 1-2-3: A Workbook for Local Officials and Community Leaders

The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus partnered with the International Council of Shopping Centers, Campaign for Sensible Growth and Metropolitan Planning Council to produce a workbook focusing on retail development in Illinois. Retail 1-2-3, released in February 2007, is the third in a series of workbooks for municipal and elected officials in the state, and builds on the earlier successes of Planning 1-2-3 (2006), a how-to guide to the elements of comprehensive planning, and Sensible Tools for Healthy Communities (2004), a workbook on development review. The production of Retail 1-2-3 was guided by a Technical Advisory Committee composed of municipal representatives, staff from the local Councils of Governments and retail and commercial developers. Mayor Henry Vicenik of the Village of Broadview co-chaired this Advisory Committee.

Retail 1-2-3 is a toolkit for local elected and appointed officials, citizen leaders, and the development community to help attract and retain valuable businesses while honoring the unique vision and goals of local governments. The book highlights the importance of incorporating retail into your community’s economic development plan, explains retail’s four Rs (recruitment, retention, revitalization, and replacement), explores the ways in which a community can improve its place in the market, offers an explanation of organizational structures for retail development that can lend clarity, efficiency, and predictability to your community’s efforts and provides valuable case studies of successful retail development by different kinds of communities.

To download a copy of Retail 1-2-3, click here.

For more information on this report, please contact Allison Milld at the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus: 312.201.4507 or amilld@mayorscaucus.org.

Homes for a Changing Region, Phase 2

In October 2009, the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and Chicago Metropolis 2020 completed Phase 2 of the Homes for a Changing Region project. In 2005, the two groups produced Homes for a Changing Region, Phase 1, which examined the changing demographics of the six-county Chicago region and forecasted how the new population will affect housing demand between 2000 and 2030. The report identified 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.

Phase 2 takes the project to the local level. Over three years, the Caucus and CM 2020 worked with nine communities and COGs. In each year, we produced a detailed housing policy plan for three communities. Year One, completed in October 2007, features an analysis of the housing supply and demand for Aurora, Libertyville and Oak Forest. Year Two included Gurnee, Montgomery and Northlake. Year 3, released in October 2009, focused on Blue Island, Plainfield and Woodstock.  Each study was undertaken with the cooperation of the local community, and the overall project was guided by a Mayors’ Advisory Group. The partners secured funding from the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Field Foundation of Illinois, the Harris Family Foundation, and National City Bank (now a part of PNC) to conduct this work.

To access the report in full, click on the report thumbnail below. For additional information please contact Allison Milld at the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus: 312.201.4507 or amilld@mayorscaucus.org

Homes for a Changing Region (2005)

Homes for a Changing Region (Year One) feat. Aurora, Libertyville and Oak Forest