Progress on Affordable Housing Planning in Evanston

​On July 30, the City of Evanston housing staff announced that they are embarking on an affordable housing planning process. The documentation they provided for the meeting is on pages 189 through 191 of the packet for the Board meeting. 

Some of the things we particularly like about this plan include the following:

• It will make use of the research that has already been done, instead of taking lots of time and money to start from scratch.
• It will extend beyond the scope of what the municipality itself can do, but describes a broader effort via use of the six planning principles in the American Planning Association’s Policy Principles for the Nation’s Housing Crisis  (see page 191 of the packet).
• It will rely on technical assistance from the leaders in thought on issues of segregation, economic equity, and urban planning, who are already familiar with the suburban landscape.
• It will potentially include formation of a Steering Committee for the planning process that would include members of the community.
• It includes a step to define resources and time frames for implementing each strategy identified--so we will have a plan with goals and measures.

Joining Forces is very excited about this new step in Evanston, and we thank the City's staff, Mayor Hagerty, Council members, and the Housing & Homelessness Commission for moving this process forward!

To learn more about what some of the next steps may be, you can look at the Chicago Metropolitan Agency on Planning's Homes for a Changing Region Toolkit.