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.