CMAP: Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning

CMAP, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning

For immediate release

Press Contact: Tom Garritano (312-386-8609 or tgarritano@chicagoareaplanning.org)

MacArthur Foundation grant to expand Full Circle community mapping and planning efforts

Technologies and expertise of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning help communities gauge and shape how their neighborhoods grow

CHICAGO, December 13, 2006 -- With a new MacArthur Foundation grant, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) will expand its Full Circle community mapping and planning efforts. The project develops wireless web tools to help communities identify how land parcels are being used, and how they could be used more effectively through a coordinated local planning strategy.

The three-year, $600,000 grant will increase to 25 the number of communities using CMAP's Full Circle technologies. Teams deploy hand-held wireless devices to gather web-based data about properties in their communities. Vacant lots, commercial investments, historical architecture and hundreds of other attributes can be updated on a daily basis. The up-to-date maps describing land uses help communities plan more effectively and collaboratively. See http://www.fulcir.net for details.

"Full Circle is an excellent model of how our new agency can provide technical assistance to communities in northeastern Illinois," said Randy Blankenhorn, CMAP executive director. "In turn, the communities using Full Circle technologies are great examples of how collaborative planning can improve economic and community development, facilitating business growth and retention. The result is neighborhoods that reflect their residents' aspirations for livability and opportunity."

With funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce, the project began with six communities in the City of Chicago and now includes parts of suburban Cook County. In addition to the MacArthur Foundation, sponsors include the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO). Full Circle's growing list of partners includes city planners, community and economic development organizations and other non-profit groups that use the latest technology to better understand and plan their communities.

Among the Full Circle deployments, a Bronzeville economic development group identifies sites with historic significance and others that can be marketed to attract businesses. Logan Square partners are tracking the availability of nutritious food in local groceries to identify under-served areas. A Rogers Park agency plans to monitor the conversion of apartments into condominiums.

In Humboldt Park and Garfield Park, community organizations identify vacant lots and monitor building conditions to promote affordable housing. And on Chicago’s west side, the Metropolitan Planning Council identified all of North Lawndale's historic greystones as part of a broader initiative by the City of Chicago.

Planners in Cook County suburbs like Blue Island have adopted the Full Circle system, with additional assistance from DCEO. For each building in its main business districts, the Blue Island team maps vacant business sites and documents structural conditions.

"The City of Blue Island needed a comprehensive building and business inventory to move forward with redeveloping our downtown business district," said Jodi Prout, Blue Island city planner. "But the city lacked capacity to develop such a database on its own. Full Circle provides essential mapping technologies and CMAP staff support. We're gaining a more thorough understanding of the existing conditions of our commercial district to develop an effective redevelopment strategy for vacant and under-utilized parcels. Ideally, our database will expand to also include information on Blue Island's industrial businesses and parcels."

Key to the Full Circle system is its "Parcel Pointer," which was developed by a team led by CMAP Internet projects manager Greg Sanders. The software lets community planners track parcel-level data, maps and charts that summarize:

Land use (e.g., residential, commercial, vacant)
Structure attributes (type, height and condition)
Business corridor condition (signage, façade condition and occupancy)
Historical significance
Environmental factors

CMAP makes Full Circle tools available to municipalities or non-profit agencies that lack the capacity to buy or build their own data applications. The agency also provides training and technical assistance to users of the system. Interested parties should contact Greg Sanders at 312-454-0400.

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