Firefighters, Teachers, Journalists Need Raises to Afford Homes in Region
Fewer apartments, rising housing
costs, and slow job growth are among the reasons why a growing number of working
people can’t afford a home in metropolitan
Chicago
. Ever wonder who is being priced out of
homes in your coverage area? MPC can provide data showing actual wages for key
sectors of your local workforce – such as teachers, medical professionals, and,
ahem, journalists – and what their wages would need to be to afford to live near
where they work.
Among our findings:
-
Though our region’s population is growing, jobs are
not being created in Kane, Lake, McHenry or Will counties at a rate
proportional to population growth.
-
As more people move into the edges of the six-county
region, rental opportunities – like job opportunities – are slow to follow.
-
Medical assistants,
firefighters, preschool teachers, and journalists are among the many workers
forced to pay more than the recommended 30 percent of their incomes on
housing.
Data on local wages and
housing costs is available for communities in DuPage,
Kane,
Lake, McHenry and Will counties.
MPC contact: Josh Ellis, Community Development
Associate, 312 .863.6045, jellis@metroplanning.org
Meet the MPC Staff
MPC’s Scott Goldstein Helps Improve
Communities through Policies and Practice
Whether your community is
weathering school funding concerns, a population influx, economic instability,
protection of critical water resources, or broadband technology issues, Scott
Goldstein, MPC vice president of policy and planning, can provide expertise on
community development trends.
The Chicago-area native and
father of two has experience working both at the policy level and on the ground
with a range of local communities to improve economic development and quality of
life. His current responsibilities include developing policy recommendations for
the A+ Illinois campaign for school funding and tax reform, and guiding the
Campaign for Sensible Growth and Community Building Initiative. After 12 years
with MPC, he says he most appreciates the opportunity to improve public policy
at a broad level, but is most proud of assisting the ongoing economic and
physical transformation of south suburban Riverdale, where nearly all of MPC’s
policies are coming into play.
Goldstein serves as
the public policy chair for ULI Chicago and is a member of Mayor Daley’s
Digital Divide Advisory Committee. He led the passage of stormwater management
and local planning
legislation
in
Illinois. Goldstein received a master’s degree
in urban planning
from
Columbia
University
in
New
York and began his career with Banana Kelly, a leading
community development corporation in the South Bronx
in New York
City.
MPC contact: Scott Goldstein, Vice President of Policy and Planning,
312.863.6003, sgoldstein@metroplanning.org
Learn Why Street Design Matters at March 15 MPC Roundtable Luncheon
Chicago and other
global cities such
as
New
York
City,
London,
Paris,
Copenhagen
and
Shanghai have begun to dramatically rethink
the design of their streets and public squares.
From
Chicago’s
Ogden Avenue
to the Paris Plage, city
streets are being transformed from throughways to popular places for residents
and visitors to shop, eat, meet, greet and relax. The Metropolitan Planning
Council and the Chicago Architecture Foundation will co-host a roundtable on
Thursday, March 15, from noon to 1:30 p.m., featuring local and national experts
discussing what it takes to turn ho-hum streets into desirable neighborhood
destinations.
“If you plan cities for cars and
traffic, you get cars and traffic. If you plan for people and places, you get
people and places,” says Fred Kent, founder and president of Project for Public
Spaces, a New York City-based nonprofit that has helped some 1,500 communities
in the
U.S.
and around the world turn their
public spaces into vital community places.
Kent
will be a
featured speaker at the event, along with Cheri Heramb, acting commissioner of
the Chicago Dept. of Transportation.
The lunchtime event takes place at the Chicago
Architecture Foundation, 224 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, in The John Buck Company
Lecture Hall. Media may attend at no cost, but registration is appreciated to
plan for lunch. For complete details, including a full speaker lineup and
standard registration and costs, visit MPC’s Web
calendar.
MPC contact: Kit Hodge, Associate, 312.863.6044, khodge@metroplanning.org
Retail 1-2-3 Teaches Communities the A-B-Cs of Retail Development
Most communities have wished
that the solution to their respective retail development needs were as easy as
the
Jackson
5’s
platinum hit, “ABC.” Of course, they rarely are. That’s why the Metropolitan
Planning Council (MPC) teamed up with the Campaign for Sensible Growth,
International Council of Shopping Centers, and Metropolitan Mayors Caucus to
produce a new retail development workbook.
Retail 1-2-3: A Workbook for Local Officials and
Community Leaders
provides
local communities with case studies, market-based financing options, examples of
what developers look for in a project and other factors to consider when faced
with a retail development challenge. Many local and regional retail “wins” are
featured in
the
workbook,
including Elmhurst,
Tinley Park, Marengo, Andersonville,
and
Lockport. The book also
explains how successful communities are making “the shopping experience,” “big
box,” and “lifestyle center” part of their lexicon, while experimenting with new
retail trends such as mixed-use development.
At events in Tinley Park on April 4, Waukegan on April
9, Elmhurst on April 10, and Des Plaines on April 17, participants will learn
how Retail 1-2-3 can help them achieve retail success in their
communities. For more information, check MPC’s Web
calendar
, or contact Josh Ellis.
MPC contact:
Josh Ellis, Community Development Associate, 312
.863.6045,
jellis@metroplanning.org
Contact:
Mike
Davidson, Manager, Campaign for Sensible Growth, 312.863.6009,
mdavidson@growingsensibly.org