Lately, the rewards keep coming for Chicago-area communities working with neighboring towns to solve shared development challenges. Here's the latest:
It pays to collaborate.
The State of Illinois has awarded $6.6 million to the Chicago Southland Housing and Community Development Collaborativeto purchase and rehab or demolish vacant or abandoned homes. Since 2009, these 20-plus south suburbs have worked together to target investments to areas near job centers and transit lines, attracting some $19 million as a result of their coordination. Read Dominic Tocci's blog post to learn more about the award.
Collaboration builds capacity.
To strengthen the Northwest Suburban Housing Collaborative, The Chicago Community Trust has awarded funding to allow these communities to hire a housing coordinator to work on their collective behalf.
Problems are solved at the right scale.
As communities continue to recover from the housing crisis, they're also planning ahead for the types of homes they will need in the future. Communities in both the south suburban collaborative and the West Cook County Housing Collaborative are participating in Homes for a Changing Region to create a vision for housing that serves each community's changing demographics and an over-arching plan to address each subregion's housing market.
Learn more about MPC's work to support Interjurisdictional Collaboration among municipalities, counties, and government agencies across the region.