Chicago Regional Housing Solutions Dashboard

This week's presentation at ChiHackNight described a planning tool developed by the Chicago Regional Planning Agency for Planning (CMAP). Take a look at the video, then look at the screen shots I've posted below.



The dashboard Elizabeth Scott is describing can be found at https://www.regionalhousingsolutions.org/

Enter a community name, or Chicago community area name in the search bar on the middle of the page.  I entered Rogers Park, on the far North side of Chicago.

This is a screen shot of that results.  In the video Elizabeth looks at a different community. You can compare the two, or search for other communities.

Note the two rows of colored boxes to the left of the map. These are the eight issue areas CMAP data focuses on. The map is color-coded for these issues. 

Click on the name ROGERS PARK in the pop-up box on the map above, and you get a screen shot that I show at the right.  This provides an overview of what housing issues face Rogers Park.

This view also shows a list of other communities in the region, including community areas of Chicago, which profile the same way. Each of these communities could be a resource for all others.

If you scroll down on this page you come to a list of the eight issues. Click on any one of them and this type of screen opens, with a discussion of that issue and some suggestions of possible solutions.  I don't know if this section focuses on the specific community area in my search, e.g. Rogers Park, but as I find out, I'll update this post.

This is a robust and creative tool and people in every community of the Chicago region (and other places) should spend time getting to know its features. Also watch for updates showing how people are using this and how CMAP is adding new features to enhance its use.

Why is this important to Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC? I've been trying since 1993 to create a map platform that would support policy makers in similar ways that the CMAP platform is  doing. At the right is a map view created by the Chicago Tutor/Mentor Program Locator.

So far the CMAP platform does not include poverty overlays, or other indicators such as poorly performing school, concentrations of ex-offenders, health disparities, violence, etc. 

It also does not include overlays of service providers and assets. It may in the future.

Browse this site to see  maps I've created using the Program Locator, and other maps created using ARC GIS.  Browse this section of the Tutor/Mentor blog, to see more map-views created using the Program Locator.

Here's a pdf created to show how the Tutor/Mentor Program locator can be used to make your own maps.  And, here's a wiki page where I show the goal of using maps, starting in 1993.

While I'm looking for partners who would help update the Program Locator that was built for me in 2008-09, I also point to other data indicator platforms, that people can use to create map stories that focus attention and resources on areas with high poverty. 

As you look at the features in the CMAP platform, and how they support discussions of housing issues, imagine a parallel platform supporting how communities discuss the needs of kids and the steps that would lead to better schools and a better non-school support system helping kids to careers.

I can be reached on these social media platforms or you can introduce yourself with a comment on this blog.