An early step in the Regional Comprehensive Plan process is the development of a vision for the future of the region.  The latest draft of the vision statements has been refined through public feedback after being developed through CMAP's committee and through a visioning workshop on September 12, 2007.  

Schedule of activities

May-August 2007: 
Develop themes for regional vision through working committees

September 2007: 
Hold visioning workshop to develop material for draft vision (for more information on the visioning workshop, please click here).

October-December 2007: 
Launch online survey, primarily geared toward getting input on vision statements from partner agencies

November 2007-January 2008: 
Develop plans and mechanisms to get input from the general public on the concepts in the regional vision

January-April 2008: 
Hold meetings and develop interactive website to get input from general public on vision

May 2008: 
Revise vision and present new draft of vision to Planning Coordinating Committee

June 2008: 
Seek endorsement of regional vision from Board of Directors and MPO Policy Committee

This schedule is a draft and is subject to change.  Please check back regularly for updates. 

History and past visioning work

The visioning effort for the Regional Comprehensive Plan builds heavily on the results of the Common Ground process, which was a region-wide visioning effort conducted by the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC).

The Common Ground process culminated in the identification of 52 goals that summarized what the residents of the region wanted to see in their futures.  These goals were used as the basis for the development of the vision to be used in the Regional Comprehensive Plan.

Visioning workshop

To develop a starting point for the regional vision, CMAP hosted a workshop on September 12, 2007.  The agenda included two guest speakers: Geoffrey Baer of WTTW-TV and internationally aclaimed designer Bruce Mau, whose talks covered the past and the future, getting participants ready to complete their own visioning exercises.  A summary of the visioning workshop was sent to attendees and CMAP's partner agencies from Executive Director Randy Blankenhorn.  Additionally, photos are available online.