Lawndale Community
Prepares for New Life on Ogden
The Lawndale community, on Chicago ’s West Side , is no stranger to
collective community activism. After all, it’s been home to two of the world’s
most notable movement leaders: Ma rtin Luther King Jr., and the only female
prime minister in the history of Israel , Golda Meir. However, this time out,
the Lawndale community is focused on collectively creating a market-based plan
for the rejuvenation of Ogden Avenue that is expected to be the cornerstone of
the city’s effort to attract community development throughout North Lawndale.
MPC is sponsoring a series of meetings to provide an overview of current land
use policies in Lawndale , and work with community residents to identify
development-related challenges and opportunities in the neighborhood. The first
meeting will take place on Tuesday, June 24 at Ma son Elementary Auditorium,
1830 S. Keeler Ave. , from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The second meeting will take
place Tuesday, July 8, also at the Ma son Elementary Auditorium. The final
meeting is Tuesday, July 22 in the North Lawndale College Prep High School
Auditorium, at 1615 S. Christiana Ave.
This public participation phase of the planning process is focused on helping
residents formulate realistic development proposals that the community’s leaders
and developers can use. The ultimate goal of the Lawndale Corridor Development
Initiative is to capitalize on the community’s attractive housing stock, easy
access to public transit, great park space, proximity to downtown Chicago , and
strong community organizations to promote new retail and residential growth.
For more information regarding the meetings or the Lawndale
Corridor Development Initiative,
contact
Karin
Sommer, MPC Associate at 312.863.6044 or
ksommer@metroplanning.org
.
Summertime in Chicago Means Baseball, Barbeques and Burnham Award
Nominations
Thanks in large part to the work of Daniel Hudson Burnham and Edward H.
Bennett, co-authors of the 1909 Plan of Chicago, the robust green scenery we
enjoy along the lakefront and throughout the region serves as a clear indication
the summer season is in full bloom.
It was Burnham’s idealism, imagination and vision that incorporated a system
of forest preserves, parks and broad avenues reminiscent of the French Baroque
tradition into the plan.
That spirit of revolutionary planning also is the inspiration behind the
Metropolitan Planning Council’s annual Burnham Award for Excellence in Planning.
The 19-year-old award recognizes superior plans that have resulted in sensible
growth and development in the Chicago region. MPC is currently calling for
nominations for the 2008 award. MPC presented the 2007 Burnham Award to
Northwest Indiana 's Marquette Plan.
MPC presents the award along, with
a $5,000 cash prize courtesy of National City Bank, at its Annual Meeting
Luncheon. For more information concerning the Burnham Award or how to apply,
please contact Katherine Bucar, MPC’s Production Assistant at
Kbucar@metroplanning.org
or
312.863.6019.
Local Planning Commissioners Receive Hand-On Training
In most towns and communities around the region, planning commissioners are
civic-minded volunteers with little to no professional planning experience. And,
yet, they are responsible for making decisions that will impact their
communities for generations. Thanks to MPC’s Planning 1-2-3, the
step-by-step workbook for writing a comprehensive plan in Illinois, these
commissioners can now sleep a little easier at night. T
he Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) has designed a series of
workshops that incorporate Planning 1-2-3 and focus on helping
municipal planning commissioners and elected officials make informed planning
decisions. The workshops, co-sponsored by the Illinois Chapter of the American
Planning Association, strive to educate municipalities on everything from
conducting productive meetings to new and innovative approaches to urban
planning.
The workshops are scheduled to be held around the six-county region from 2008
to early 2009, and offer participants the opportunity to explore the fundamental
principles of comprehensive planning, as well as MPC-facilitated land use
planning exercises that simulate the planning process for growth and development
in typical communities. “Planning for things like land use and public
transportation requires communities to look several years ahead,” said Joanna
Trotter , MPC’s Community Building Initiative Manager, “so tools like
Planning 1-2-3 are a great way to access professional expertise.”
For more information about
upcoming workshops, please contact Hubert Morgan, CMAP External Relations at
hmorgan@cmap.illinois.gov
,
or 312.386.8790.