CMAP has released Metropolitan Chicago’s Manufacturing Cluster:  A Drill-Down Report on Innovation, Workforce, and Infrastructure , the second report in its cluster series. The report, which focuses on the region’s manufacturing cluster , was shared at an event with stakeholders from throughout the region at Harper College on February 26.  A panel of experts discussed how the... Read More

Since the housing crisis began, many for-sale single-family homes (SFHs) in the region have become rental units or are now vacant.  This has diverse implications for how the region’s communities recover from the housing crisis and manage a housing stock that has traditionally been owner-occupied.  Recent data from the American Community Survey (ACS), which provides a rolling... Read More

Since the passage of GO TO 2040, CMAP has advocated that the State of Illinois and regional stakeholders should implement performance-based funding to prioritize transportation projects -- a transparent process that relies on data-driven metrics and the professional judgment of transportation stakeholders, often including input by the general public. This Policy Update summarizes the... Read More

The Illinois Senate and its committees meet this week to advance a number of bills. The Illinois House of Representatives was not in session this week and will return Tuesday. Progress on bills of interest to CMAP include the following: Committee Actions Date of Budget Submission HB 156 This legislation would require the Governor to submit the annual budget to the Illinois... Read More

On February 7, 2013, the U.S. Department of Transportation published revisions to the environmental review process for transit projects seeking federal funding.  These revisions, which target the federally mandated National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review process, are expected to reduce costs and streamline the project delivery process. They also encourage on-line posting of... Read More