Interactive public workshops in Bellwood, Berwyn, Forest Park, Maywood, and Oak Park will shape future housing planning

Through the "Homes for a Changing Region" project, five West Cook County suburbs will engage the public around strategies to meet each village's future housing needs

The public is encouraged to attend interactive workshop events in September in Bellwood, Berwyn, Forest Park, Maywood, and Oak Park. Each Homes for a Changing Region event will bring village residents together to start creating a collective vision for future housing in their community.

Village leaders and citizens alike will participate in a board game-like exercise, through which participants work together over large maps and use game pieces representing different types of housing development to indicate how and where the village's expected residential growth should occur. The results will be used to guide strategies in each community that support a balanced mix of housing types, serve the needs of existing and future residents and workers, and enhance livability.

"These workshops give each village's citizens a voice in this important process," said Lori Sommers, Chair of the West Cook County Housing Collaborative Working Group "while the process might feel like a game, it provides planners with useful guidance on the development of local and sub-regional plans."

Homes for a Changing Region is led by the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning's Local Technical Assistance Program, in partnership with local communities, and with support from the Metropolitan Planning Council. In recent years, Homes for a Changing Region has collaborated with leaders from Aurora, Blue Island, Gurnee, Libertyville, Montgomery, Northlake, Oak Forest, Plainfield, and Woodstock. In 2011, the project will work with 12 communities in metropolitan Chicago.

Details follow on each community's meeting. For more information about Homes for a Changing Region, visit http://www.metroplanning.org/homes.
 

WHAT

Bellwood, Berwyn, Forest Park, Maywood and Oak Park will host public workshops in September, inviting local residents to weigh in on local housing plans being created through Homes for a Changing Region.
 

WHEN AND WHERE

MAYWOOD
Thursday, September 1, 2011
6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
200 S. 5th Ave., Maywood
CONTACT: Lori Sommers
Director of Community Development
708-450-4429
708-358-5411

OAK PARK
Thursday, September 8, 2011
7:00 to 9:30 p.m.
Nineteenth Century Charitable Association
178 Forest Ave., Oak Park
CONTACT: Tammie Grossman
Housing Programs Manager

BERWYN
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
Proska Park
3001 S. Wisconsin Ave.
Berwyn, IL 60402
CONTACT: Bob Dwan
Director of Community Development
708-795-6850

BELLWOOD
Monday, September 19, 2011
6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
Village Hall Community Room
3200 Washington Blvd., Bellwood
CONTACT: Tonita LeShore
Director of Human Resources
708-202-0312

FOREST PARK
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
Howard Mohr Community Center
7640 Jackson Blvd., Forest Park
CONTACT: Tim Gillian
Village Administrator
708-615-6201

 

 

PROGRAM CONTACTS

Drew Williams-Clark, Senior Planner, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (312-386-8770 or awilliamsclark@cmap.illinois.gov)

Allison L. Milld, Director of Housing Initiatives, Metropolitan Mayors Caucus (312-201-4507 or amilld@mayorscaucus.org)

Nancy Firfer, Senior Advisor, Metropolitan Planning Council (312-863-6025 or nfirfer@metroplanning.org)