While annual permitted units are still at historic lows in northeastern Illinois, the region saw increases from post-recession lows in 2012. In some cases, annual permitted units in the region matched 2008 levels. There have also been unique shifts in the location and type of development -- in particular, suburban areas garnered a substantially larger share of the region’s multifamily... Read More

Today, March 22, marks an important deadline for the Illinois General Assembly.  Bills that have not been voted out of committee will now require a deadline extension in order to advance through the legislative process. CMAP has been tracking over 350 bills, but only a handful of these have moved forward out of committee. Other significant bills, including pension reform legislation,... Read More

Metropolitan Chicago’s manufacturing cluster employs one in eight workers in the region.  Although manufacturers lost one-third of their workforce between 2001 and 2011, productivity actually increased over that same period.  These seemingly contradictory trends reveal how dramatically the region’s manufacturing cluster has changed in recent years.  CMAP’s new manufacturing... Read More

In March 2013, the Brookings Institution released a policy report with recommendations for improving  passenger rail in anticipation of the upcoming reauthorization of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA). According to the report, Amtrak’s ridership has soared in recent years along several short-distance metropolitan corridors, though it declined in... Read More

On March 19, 2013, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released its 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure .  Updated every four years, the report card rates the condition of the nation’s transportation, energy, and water infrastructure and provides individual state profiles.  ASCE assigned a cumulative GPA of D+ to the nation’s infrastructure, identifying an... Read More