IMPORTANT NOTE:   There is a newer home page for the LTA program, where you can find all the latest information.

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) has begun partnering with the first wave of local communities identified for planning assistance through the agency's new initiative sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as part of the federal interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities.  CMAP is working with 64 local governments, nonprofits, and intergovernmental organizations to address local issues at the intersection of transportation, land use, and housing, including the natural environment, economic growth, and community development.  Work has begun on several projects, including:

• Neighborhood planning for the Greater Englewood, Washington Park, and Woodlawn community areas in Chicago
• Interjurisdictional housing planning involving south and west Cook County municipalities
• A comprehensive plan for the City of Blue Island, in southwest Cook County
• A land use and infrastructure plan for the Fairmont area, a community in unincorporated Will County
• Integrated water management analysis (stormwater, wastewater, and supply) in Lake Zurich, a municipality in Lake County

Download a full list of projects.

Even as these first projects begin, CMAP is working to prioritize others that are next in line among over 220 proposals the agency received from more than 130 municipalities, counties, interjurisdictional groups, and nongovernmental organizations that responded to a call for projects in early 2011. 

These local planning assistance activities are made possible through a three-year $4.25 million HUD award.  In today's challenging economic and fiscal times, many communities have difficulty allocating enough resources to plan for their futures as proactively as they would like to.  At the same time, proactive planning is necessary for our region's continued economic prosperity.

The HUD-funded effort is helping fill this gap by making staff resources and grants available to assist with local planning projects that help to implement GO TO 2040, the regional comprehensive plan.  Recognizing the central role that communities have in shaping the future of our region, the plan calls for CMAP and other groups to support local planning projects.  This will give communities the opportunity to request CMAP's assistance on important local planning projects of many types.  Most assistance will be in the form of staff time, though small supporting grants to accompany staff assistance are also available.