Visions: Choosing a Future for Growing Communities

The Visions Project affords communities across the Chicago region an unprecedented chance to chart a collective destiny. Throughout the suburbs, communities are struggling to reconcile the desire for economic development with concerns about rampant land consumption. At the same time, struggling urban neighborhoods seek renewal and hew hope. The Visions Project literally gives new dimension to this quest by demonstrating how the land-use policies we adopt on paper manifest themselves in reality. The results from the project's first round of drawings underscore the magnitude of these pending decisions about where and how much growth will occur. Dramatically different futures loom ahead, depending on how we plan for the future in our growing communities. Suburban sprawl is not inevitable, and the Chicago region has an opportunity to leave a legacy of livable communities and environmental preservation. To do so, governmental leaders, developers and civic planners should take heed of several lessons learned in the Visions Project:

Mixed-Use Development Curbs Sprawl

Mixed-use developments, which combine residential, shopping and office amenities, consume less space and provide easier access between home, work and recreational destinations. They also reduce traffic congestion by cutting trip lengths and catering to pedestrian traffic.

Transportation Determines Development Patterns

New highways, such as the proposed Route 53 Tollway in Lake County and the I-355 Extension in Will County, facilitate higher levels of population growth and encourage more sprawling, fragmented development in which homes, shops and offices are divided into districts accessible only by car. Investment in rail infrastructure, however, often results in more mixed-use development, which occupies less land.

There is Always Space for the Car

Curbing sprawl does not require sacrificing the car. Mixed-use developments can accommodate automobile use without compromising community character. Parking lots can be tucked behind or to the side of buildings to give pedestrians a share of the public space. Gridlike street networks improve traffic flows while diminishing land consumption.

Governments Should Coordinate Action to Preserve Open Space

From land-purchasing programs, to transferable development rights, to more environmentally sensitive zoning standards, local, county and state officials can adopt a variety of coordinated policies to stem the loss of farmland and open space.

Protect Flood Plains and Wetlands

Encroachment on flood plains and naturally wet areas threatens both public water quality and private properties. Preserved wetlands and other natural habitats can serve as recreational attractions, which improve livability and provide a community with related commercial opportunities.

Mature Communities Are Ripe for Rediscovery

Older, urbanized neighborhoods can capitalize on existing infrastructure to attract infill development. But careful planning should take place to ensure that new development strengthens, rather than splits, the community's physical cohesion and urban identity.

Project Background

The Visions Project was developed in close coordination with representatives of each of the communities featured in the drawings. A planning committee, consisting of local public officials and residents as well as representatives from area civic and conservation organizations, was formed in each community to shape the creation of the drawings. These committees met to exchange thoughts and develop a consensus on the likely impacts of impending growth pressures, taking into account a variety of possibilities concerning transportation, housing, natural resource conservation and other public infrastructure.

In each instance, project participants considered two different development scenarios – one where current sprawl-oriented land use practices remain intact and one where policies are adopted to keep sprawl in check. The panel created two separate land use schemes that reflect the results of these differing trends in the year 2020. Next, Dodson Associates adapted these land-use blueprints into more detailed architectural tableaus. These scenes postulate a future for each community if 1) sprawl continues to hold sway, or if 2) a new land use philosophy gains favor. Dodson Associates submitted a draft of the drawings to project participants for their review and revision. Any additional input was incorporated into the final set of drawings. The results have been published for the first time in this report.

About Dodson Associates

Dodson Associates is an award-winning landscape architecture firm based in Ashfield, Massachusetts. It provides consulting services in site design, development planning, historic preservation and visual assessment for a wide array of clients. In addition to its work for The Environmental Law & Policy Center, the firm’s most recent projects include regional design recommendations for the Regional Plan Association of New York; a growth management plan for the city of Berlin, Germany; development of a scenic highways program for British Columbia, Canada; and a new town plan for Mansfield, Connecticut.