MPC's Community Building Initiative is featured in the cover story in the Winter 2005 Regional Connection newsletter.
By Guest Author- April 27, 2006
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the first reaction of many people was outrage at the slow response and lack of preparedness of the federal, state and local governments. It appeared that no one was in charge, resources were sparse or nonexistent, and New Orleans, with a hefty concentration of poverty and limited local resources, needed tremendous help from the federal government that was very slow in coming. A couple of weeks into the mass evacuation and clean-up, attention began turning to how should the city rebuild? How could citizens be protected in the future? How could neighborhoods — in locations appropriate for building and consistent with the character of New Orleans — be restored without trivializing the past? And, perhaps most importantly, how could the entrenched poverty of New Orleans and other areas of Louisiana and Mississippi be addressed directly? From First Lady Laura Bush to U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), attention focused on the problems of concentrated poverty more pointedly perhaps than at any other nationally defining moment in the past couple of decades.
As we dig into our pockets to help those in need down the Mississippi River from Illinois, and reflect on these issues in the Chicago region, we should be asking if we are doing everything we can to ensure a brighter future for our own communities.
A continuing tradition
The Metropolitan Planning Council was born out of concern about the deplorable slum conditions in Chicago during the Depression. While Chicago hosted the 1934 World’s Fair to great acclaim, noted reformers, business and civic leaders came together to form the Metropolitan Housing Council (MPC’s forerunner).
To bring attention to the plight of the living conditions just blocks from the fair, the Council moved two dilapidated shacks to the fairgrounds. Within 24 hours, volunteer union laborers transformed one of the shacks into a livable home, complete with electricity, indoor plumbing and other amenities, as a means of showing how the city’s substandard housing could be greatly transformed with just a little effort. The hope was then, and remains today, to provide opportunity to all of the region’s citizens, no matter where they happened to live.
In the past seven decades there has been tremendous progress, as well as some setbacks along the way.
“The Council continues to work on improving public policies in the region and state,” said Karen Butler, senior development director for General Growth Properties, and a member of MPC’s Board of Governors. “However, if we’re not doing everything we can as an organization — and as thousands of individuals involved with MPC — to help communities implement these policies on the ground, we are not doing our job.”
“While we had been doing important projects in local communities since 2000, we realized these efforts could have greater impact if they were better coordinated around a series of priorities,” explained Todd Brown, vice chairman of Shorebank, and an MPC Board member.
In 2005, MPC created a new, coordinated strategy – the Community Building Initiative – to bring together, under one roof, all of the organization’s resources to help communities envision and execute at the local level. Butler and Brown agreed to co-chair a new Advisory Board to guide the community building work. They are complemented by seven other board members and volunteers, who have expertise in housing, transportation and other infrastructure, finance, and mixeduse development.
With initial lead funding from the MacArthur Foundation, Grand Victoria Foundation, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Chicago Community Trust, Steans Family Foundation, Harris Bank, Woods Fund, Dreihaus Foundation, Chase, and community partners like the City of St. Charles, MPC was able to pool more than $150,000 from targeted grants to step up its efforts and extend its reach in the Chicago region.
More than good ideas
While Hurricane Katrina has shone light on the plight of the urban poor, the truth is that metropolitan regions are far more complex than the inner city alone. Recognizing this, in 2003, MPC began working with two communities – Riverdale and St. Charles – that were emblematic of housing challenges being experienced throughout the region (see Regional Connection, Summer 2003). With sustained community assistance, both communities have accomplished a great deal – moving from solid plans to implementation.
“A hallmark of MPC’s new Community Building Initiative is to provide more than good ideas,” said MPC President MarySue Barrett. “We deliver training, capacity building, and long-term relationships that are needed to implement comprehensive strategies.”
In Riverdale, a 2002 Urban Land Institute Chicago – Campaign for Sensible Growth technical assistance panel (TAP) recommended rebuilding – instead of razing – the troubled 300-plus-unit Pacesetter development. Located in the northeast section of the village, the development was plagued by absentee landlords, who were neglecting the maintenance of their properties and, in some cases, gouging residents on basic services – including charging extra rent for the use of appliances.
Even with a strong mayor, Zenovia Evans, and a committed staff, it was clear to local leadership they would need outside resources and help to transform the neighborhood into a place where people would want to live, with access to jobs, a quality park, and human services. With the assistance of the volunteer panelists who continued to advise the village for a year following the TAP, and of MPC staff on an ongoing basis over the past three years, Riverdale brought in one of the most experienced affordable housing developers in the region, Holsten Development, and nonprofit partner Turnstone Development, to lead the redevelopment effort.
Said Mayor Evans, “MPC’s role has been so important. They have helped us fundraise for the project, connected us with resources, and advised the development team on the site plan.”
Three years after the panel, over $7 million has been secured for land acquisition for the first phase of the redevelopment effort and over 70 of the first 96 units that need to be acquired are under contract. The first phase will include 133 completely rehabilitated rental units and two mixed-use buildings with commercial space along 138th Street, just a block east of Halsted. Future phases will include a majority of homeownership units in an innovative layout designed by noted architects Doug Farr and Susan Campbell. Major sources of funding include the largest loan ever made by the Illinois Housing Development Authority’s Housing Trust Fund, the Chicago Community Loan Fund, Fannie Mae, and private equity through federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits.
MPC’s Community Building Initiative is also helping families access quality housing by opening up opportunities in job-rich areas of the region. Over the last several years, through strong leadership from the former Mayor Susan Klinkhamer and current Mayor Don DeWitte, and dedication from city staff and key aldermen, the City of St. Charles has committed itself to maintaining both housing affordability and choice throughout the city. With its attractive small town setting, strong employment base, and proximity to public transportation, St. Charles is a community of choice. However, with a limited supply of buildable lots, the cost of housing in the city has increased substantially. Many current residents fear the rapid price increase will quickly make it impossible for valuable members of the community to purchase or rent homes, including seniors, adult children just starting their careers, and local employees.
To help St. Charles develop and implement a Housing Action Plan consistent with the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus’ Housing Endorsement Criteria and new state housing policy, MPC created a St. Charles Housing Task Force. Its members, who have backgrounds in finance, redevelopment, affordable housing law, community outreach, and urban planning, made a one-year volunteer commitment to provide technical assistance on affordable housing policies and proposals.
To preserve the existing housing stock, much of which is rental, the task force introduced the city to a variety of strategies, including the creation of a dedicated housing fund, a condo conversion ordinance, a teardown fee, an inclusionary zoning ordinance, and a zoning incentive package to encourage a mixture of housing types with varied price ranges to meet the entire community’s housing needs.
Since MPC’s presentation of these options to the St. Charles City Council, the city has accelerated its efforts to build homes priced to meet the needs of its diverse constituency.
“Staff has already negotiated 10 percent affordable setasides with developers doing work in St. Charles, creating a pipeline of over 100 potential units,” said Mayor DeWitte. “In October, our city council voted to form a Housing Commission to begin prioritizing, researching and implementing MPC’s recommendations.”
New partnerships on the pipeline
“In addition to prioritizing community revitalization and quality housing options in job-rich areas, MPC’s Community Building Initiative is focusing on sustainable development and conservation design, as well as coordinating assistance between providers in the region,” said Heather Campbell, Community Building Initiative manager.
This fall, MPC began assisting the City of Rolling Meadows on housing issues. Located along I-90 and originally established to be an affordable, bedroom community, Rolling Meadows today is becoming a major business and employment center for the Chicago metropolitan area. Over 50,000 people work in the city and over 1,800 businesses call Rolling Meadows home. With MPC’s assistance, Rolling Meadows has begun to plan ahead for the housing needs of its rapidly growing local workforce by leveraging private investment in affordable housing, tapping state funding, and soliciting regional and national housing expertise to ensure an affordable component in major redevelopment efforts. In November, MPC brought together a task force to advise the city on the redevelopment of a 692-unit development at the intersection of I-90, I-290 and I-53.
MPC’s ultimate goal with the Community Building Initiative is to work itself out of a job. The new Regional Planning Board, for example, is starting with a clean slate, and could make community capacity building a part of its mandate. In the meantime, MPC is coordinating its efforts with a variety of other organizations in the region that offer technical assistance. From formal partnerships to informal information sharing, it is crucial for the region to develop and execute an efficient and effective delivery system to reach all communities in need of assistance — when they need the help and with the right expertise.
Click here to download a pdf of the Winter 2005 Regional Connection .