After an extensive 18-month planning process, the Village of Elmwood Park Board of Trustees unanimously adopted its Comprehensive Plan on Monday, April 1, 2013. 

The Village of Elmwood Park offers numerous community amenities that provide a high quality of life for its residents. These include a centrally located Metra train station, renowned restaurants, and an active civic center of municipal facilities. Elmwood Park is located adjacent to the City of Chicago in central Cook County and has a legacy of historically significant housing stock that can be traced back to the early 20^th Century. Today, the Village continues to harness its historic strengths while addressing present issues to create a prosperous, sustainable community for generations to come.

CMAP's Local Technical Assistance (LTA) program is currently working with Elmwood Park to update its comprehensive plan. This comprehensive plan will capitalize upon the Village's assets to address current local issues and provide a roadmap to reach long-term goals. The plan will build upon previous planning efforts such as the Village's 1995 "Comprehensive Local Plan" and the 2006 "Station Area Plan." It will also identify unique opportunities to support the recommendations identified in the GO TO 2040 comprehensive regional plan. Elmwood Park's comprehensive planning process will explore topics such as: future land use; transportation and infrastructure; parks and open space; community facilities; economic development; and community identity. In addition, there will be a strong focus on implementation strategies to ensure the strength and longevity of the plan.

Over 100 residents participated in the first public meeting for the comprehensive plan process. The meeting was held on Thursday, September 15, 2011, at the Elmwood Park Recreation Center Gym.

Residents and community members had another opportunity to participate in this planning process by attending the March 1, 2012 Community Visioning Workshop. Using interactive polling software and a web tool for public input, the workshop allowed participants to share how they would like the village to look in the future.

Additionally, approximately 130 stakeholders shared their ideas about what should be included in the comprehensive plan through the project's interactive public engagement website that was active in the spring of 2012.

The final opportunity for the community to provide feedback about this plan was during a Public Open House held on Thursday, March 7, 2013. Members of the community could drop by the Elmwood Park Recreation Center to learn about and comment on the main recommendations of the draft plan.

An appendix to the plan, which describes the community engagement strategy for this planning process, can be found on-line.

For more information contact info@cmap.illinois.gov or 312-454-0400.