Land grabs are occuring around Chicago suburbs, as towns try to steer development and pay for service and infrastructure costs.
According to area planners, municipalities are annexing nearby unincorporated land "at a rate not seen since the 1950s....With expansion in the region winding down, towns are grabbing the remaining unincorporated land within their borders so they will have some say in the direction of future development....In Illinois, municipalities use annexation to grow because land-use power rests predominantly with local governments and not with counties and townships....Municipalities also annex land to share the growing costs of fire protection, water and sewer services among a wider pool of taxpayers, officials said. Municipal officials also use promises of better services, water and sewer in particular, as leverage in negotiations with reluctant property owners."
Thanks to Connie Chung
Read the full story: Land grabs back in force
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion
Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority