Create a program to focus resources in Targeted Reinvestment Areas

In concert with partners, CMAP should create a Targeted Reinvestment Area (TRA) process for municipalities and counties to designate locations for infill, infrastructure, affordable housing, and other types of assistance and funding. As part of the agency’s familiar planning and infrastructure funding processes, it should not aim to replace effective systems, but rather to adapt them to maximize investment impacts. This program would also have to complement broader initiatives such as asset management, which can also enhance decision making.

Preliminary steps in establishing a TRA( Targeted Reinvestment Areas are locally-designated places that help implement plan priorities aroun...
Read more) program include building consensus among partners on the types of areas where investment should be targeted. The ON TO 2050 planning process has identified three types of areas that municipalities and counties, civic organizations, transportation providers, and other stakeholders consider most important for reinvestment: employment centers; mixed-use downtowns, main streets, and bus and rail transit stops; and disinvested areas. Further definition of the scope and criteria unique to each of these types is necessary to begin establishing a program to direct resources toward those locations. Experience with similar programs in other regions has shown that the most effective approach is locally driven, as local governments and community groups submit target areas for designation provided that they meet certain parameters.

CMAP should lead this effort while convening many others to participate because the agency cannot fully implement a TRA( Targeted Reinvestment Areas are locally-designated places that help implement plan priorities aroun...
Read more) program on its own. There are many public agencies, nonprofit groups, and private entities that contribute to investment decisions in the Chicago region. Coordinating investment implies a multitude of agencies and investors working together to support beneficial development that is consistent with local plans. This is not a novel concept in the Chicago region; most, if not all, significant redevelopment and construction projects already include multiple layers of funding and financing. But by communicating proactively and setting priorities jointly, these agencies can make the best use of our limited investment dollars.

Finally, although TRA( Targeted Reinvestment Areas are locally-designated places that help implement plan priorities aroun...
Read more)s offer an opportunity to focus numerous resources and drive change, the program would not preclude implementation of other substantive needs outlined in ON TO 2050. Investment and assistance should still occur throughout the region in ways that support the priorities of the plan. For example, planning for the Coordinated Planning Areas described in the Environment chapter can help communities improve development patterns and infrastructure investment. Similarly, collaboration across communities on issues like economic development or truck routing may incorporate TRA( Targeted Reinvestment Areas are locally-designated places that help implement plan priorities aroun...
Read more)s and many other areas.