Re-Connection - August 2009

Last month, the White House Office of Urban Affairs and Domestic Policy Council hosted a day-long urban and metropolitan policy roundtable to explore, according to a White House press statement, “how the federal government can serve as a more effective partner in developing competitive, sustainable and inclusive communities.” Participants included senior member of the administration, state and local officials, and urban policy experts, moderated by Julia Stasch of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. President Barack Obama wrapped up the day with the announcement that members of his Cabinet and the Office of Urban Affairs will visit cities and metropolitan areas across the country “as part of a national conversation to lift up best practices from around the country, to look at innovations for the metropolitan areas of tomorrow.”

“Forward-looking cities shouldn't be succeeding despite Washington; they should be succeeding with a hand from Washington,” the President explained. “We want to hear directly from them, and we want to hear directly from all of you, on fresh ideas and successful solutions that you've devised, and then figure out what the federal government should do or shouldn't do to help reinvent cities and metropolitan areas for the 21st century.”

With a unanimous vote from the Chicago Plan Commission on July 15, the City of Chicago adopted the Reconnecting Neighborhoods plan, kicking off the implementation phase of the project. The City of Chicago Dept. of Planning and Development (now Dept. of Community Development) initiated Reconnecting Neighborhoods in late 2006, thanks to a Regional Transportation Community Planning Grant to explore transit, retail and infrastructure improvements in three Chicago neighborhoods – Near North, Near West, and Mid-South – impacted by the Chicago Housing Authority Plan for Transformation. MPC and an Intergovernmental Advisory Committee, which consists of representatives from city and state public agencies, elected officials, and community and private sector leaders, will focus on carrying out specific community-envisioned recommendations. By leveraging existing federal housing funding with added economic development and transit investment, Reconnecting Neighborhoods is well positioned to take advantage of new federal and state capital funding opportunities to implement priority infrastructure improvements identified in the plan. Transit improvements that increase the likelihood of the long-term success of these mixed-income communities and support Chicago 2016's Olympic bid - such as a new Green Line station near Westhaven Park and the United Center - top our list.