Metropolitan Planning Council history

In 1953, a shocking Chicago Daily News series raised public awareness of the city's squalid, dangerous slum conditions.

In 1968, MHPC recommends the City of Chicago gain the air rights over the Illinois Central Railroad tracks to develop a proposal for a new world-class park, to be called Lakefront Gardens, in the city's front yard.

In 1979, the Council recommends that Chicago's North Loop Renewal Project focus primarily on retail concentration, in order to maintain State Street's historic character.

1981 MHPC releases "Housing Chicago and the Region," a much-sought-after study of housing supply and opportunities in Chicagoland.

In 1985, the Council successfully urges the state to take a statewide "infrastructure inventory" and create a five-year capital plan.

1994 The Regional Public Transportation Task Force, convened by MPC at the Regional Transportation Authority's request, releases final recommendations for meeting Chicagoland's mobility needs.

1997 The Council leads the Reform '97 campaign, which increases Illinois school funding by more than $1,000 per child and establishes a foundation level for school funding based on what quality schools need to educate children.

1998 MPC, along with hundreds of Chicago-area partners, launches the Campaign for Sensible Growth to encourage sustainable development.

The federal government passes the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), a bill MPC supported as necessary to fund critical maintenance and improvements to roads and transit systems in 2000.

2001 MPC launches its Employer-Assisted Housing (EAH) program, giving employers the opportunity to help employees purchase homes near work.

2002 The Illinois General Assembly passes the Local Planning and Technical Assistance Act, heralded as groundbreaking for outlining incentives to communities to create comprehensive plans.

Publications are at the center of the Campaign’s 2004 work plan, serving as an effective way to reach core audiences of local and elected officials, business leaders, and developers.

2005 Illinois unveils its first comprehensive, statewide housing plan, which MPC helped shape.

2006 Thirty years after MPC began the drumbeat for such an organization, the General Assembly creates Chicagoland's first comprehensive planning entity, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, by merging two separate organizations into a much stronger whole.

A fourth workbook on housing, co-sponsored by the Illinois Housing Council, MPC, CMAP, and Metropolitan Mayors Caucus is scheduled for a 2008 release.

2009 Two clusters of communities in south and west Cook County, working across municipal borders on joint housing and community development plans, are awarded significant federal, state and regional funding.

2011 The Illinois General Assembly approves the Public-Private Partnerships for Transportation Act, enabling the Illinois Dept. of Transportation and Illinois State Toll Highway Authority to use public-private partnerships to finance new transportation infrastructure.