Tuesdays at APA: Plants, Paddles, and People - Creating Community through Green Infrastructure and Riverfront Development in Blue Island, Illinois

November 19, 2013


A growing number of cities across the country have begun to
acknowledge their waterfronts as valuable community assets
through plans, capital investments, and development regulations.
The Cal-Sag Channel and Little Calumet River wind through the
ecologically rich, but economically challenged Calumet region in
Chicago's south suburbs. The region has received attention lately
through the state's Millennium Reserve initiative, a new land
bank and transit-oriented development fund, and possible national
park designation for the Pullman neighborhood, and it's poised to
take advantage of its rich water assets.


At the center of much of this activity is the City of Blue
Island, Illinois, an inner-ring suburb straddling both banks of
the Cal-Sag Channel. Jason Berry, from the City of Blue Island,
and Abby Crisostomo, from the Metropolitan Planning Council,
discussed a number of water-oriented planning activities
happening in Blue Island — from neighborhood-based approaches to
green infrastructure and stormwater management, to community
engagement in the creation of a waterfront plan, to
regional-scale planning for an intercollegiate rowing center and
more. They highlighted the lessons learned for integrating the
recognition of water as an asset into community planning.