Leaders from across the metropolitan Chicago region voted on 10/10/18 to adopt ON TO 2050, the new comprehensive long-range plan to help communities and the region thrive.

The plan became official in a joint vote this morning of the Board and the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Policy Committee of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), immediately preceding a launch of the plan’s implementation phase at an event in Chicago’s Millennium Park. Now the agency and its partners will begin the work of putting ON TO 2050 strategies into action for the seven counties and 284 communities of Chicagoland.

“Metropolitan Chicago is not alone in seeking regional solutions to its most pressing, long-term problems,” said National League of Cities CEO and executive director Clarence E. Anthony, the event’s keynote speaker. “As CMAP analysis in ON TO 2050 confirms, this region has seen some challenges recently. The plan contains strategic recommendations that, once implemented, can point toward more opportunities for all residents and communities to achieve their full potential.”

In the interactive, multimedia plan at www.cmap.illinois.gov/2050, ON TO 2050’s goals and recommendations are based on three core principles:

Inclusive Growth: Grow the economy through opportunity for all.

Resilience: Prepare for rapid changes, both known and unknown.

Prioritized Investment: Target resources to maximize benefits.

As with many U.S. metropolitan areas, access to opportunity and prosperity in metropolitan Chicago often follows racial lines. Among many interactive charts, ON TO 2050 includes one showing disparate outcomes for education, employment, and income by race or ethnicity for the nation’s 25 largest metropolitan areas. To compare our region with others,  click the image below or visit www.cmap.illinois.gov/2050/disparate-outcomes.