Chicago Metropolis Plans 2020

Abstract

Chicago Metropolis 2020 (renamed Metropolis Strategies in 2011) is a nonprofit organization created by the Commercial Club of Chicago in 1999 to advocate for better regional planning and smart investments to promote the region’s long-term economic health and enable all residents of the six-county region to reach their full potential. Some of these investments are in physical infrastructure.

The Metropolis Plan was developed using the same kind of computer modeling technology that engineers use to design virtual planes and that military planners use to fight hypothetical wars over and over again. These tools allow us to project how and where growth will occur under different scenarios, such as different choices for housing density or transportation infrastructure, and then how those development patterns will affect our quality of life.

The premise of the Metropolis Plan is simple. We can build a better region. We can spend less time in traffic. We can live nearer to our jobs. We can protect more open space and environmentally sensitive areas. We can build communities that are friendlier to walking and biking—and therefore healthier for the people who live in them. We can make economic opportunity available to more of our region’s residents.

Chicago Metropolis 2020 recognizes that public policy influences private decisions. We do not believe in coercing people to behave differently. We do believe that people will behave differently if offered a better range of choices. If we design our communities to be more friendly to pedestrians, some people will choose to walk rather than drive. If we offer a broader array of housing options throughout the region, some people will choose to live nearer to where they work. If we invest in a more comfortable and convenient transit system, some people will gladly sell their second car and ride the train to work.

The goal of the Metropolis Plan is to broaden the range of private choices in a way that leads to a better collective outcome. The purpose is not to tell people how they should live; it is to listen to how people would like to live and then help them get there.

Chicago Metropolis 2020 asked a broad swath of residents of the Chicago region about their views on growth and development. We met with groups ranging from business leaders to organized labor. We held town meetings around the region and conducted a public opinion survey of 1450 Chicago area residents. We recorded what people told us about how they would like our region to grow. As a result of these conversations, Chicago Metropolis 2020 formulated a set of shared regional goals. They include the following:

• New development will make efficient use of existing infrastructure, land, buildings, and capital.

• Housing, jobs, and commercial services will be within walking distance of one another.

• The region will improve its efficiency in moving people and goods.

• People throughout the region will have access to quality affordable housing, good jobs, and good schools.

• Families will be able to choose to live near where they work, shop, and go to school.

• All people and places will benefit from the region’s prosperity.

• The region will practice good stewardship of the environment, including air, water, natural habitats, and open space.

• A robust economy will make the region more prosperous and attractive.

• Residents of all income levels will have access to clean air and water and meaningful opportunities to enjoy the outdoors.

The Metropolis Plan was created using sophisticated modeling techniques, the advice from residents of the region, and input from land use and transportation experts. These resources were used to create several different scenarios, each of which allowed us to take a virtual look at what life would be like in 2020.

The economic, land use, and transportation models were used to forecast trends, to organize an extraordinary amount of data about our region, and to test what might happen if we added a new expressway, doubled the budget for transit, moved jobs and housing closer together, or made other policy changes that might affect the outcomes we care about.

Of the various scenarios created, two were selected to illustrate what the future might hold for us. The first is “Business as Usual,” a look at what might happen if our land use and transportation policies over the next 30 years mirror the policies of the previous decade. The second scenario is “The Metropolis Plan”—an alternative path that reflects the principles and preferences that residents of the region shared with us.

The result—The Metropolis Plan: Choices for the Chicago Region, published in 2001—is a blueprint for creating a better region.

Jim La Belle (liberally excerpted by Arch. Giuseppe Roccasalva) with additions and edits of Paul O’Connor

The Metropolis Plan was the original work of Chicago Metropolis 2020 (now Metropolis Strategies)