GO TO 2040: Two Years Later

Bio: Executive Vice President at Metropolitan Planning Council

Education: Masters of Planning from University of Illinois at Chicago

Bio: Randy Blankenhorn is executive director of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP, www.cmap.illinois.gov), the official regional planning organization for the northeastern Illinois counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will. Under his leadership, CMAP developed and is now guiding the implementation of GO TO 2040, metropolitan Chicago’s first truly comprehensive regional plan in more than 100 years. The plan’s four themes -- Livable Communities, Human Capital, Efficient Governance, and Regional Mobility -- address the fundamental challenges that shape residents' daily lives. Randy and CMAP staff work closely with seven counties, 284 municipalities, and scores of stakeholder groups to implement the plan’s strategies for aligning public policies and investments, seeking to maximize the benefit of scarce resources as the region adds more than 2 million new residents in the next three decades. With GO TO 2040’s integrated approach to transportation, housing, economic development, open space, the environment, and other quality-of-life issues, CMAP is dedicated to strengthening the region’s communities and ensuring economic prosperity. In 2012, GO TO 2040 received the Metropolitan Planning Council’s Burnham Award for Excellence in Planning, as well as the biennial Transportation Planning Excellence Award given by the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, American Planning Association, and Transportation Research Board. Prior to joining CMAP in 2006, Randy was Bureau Chief of Urban Program Planning for the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), coordinating activities of the 14 metropolitan planning organizations across Illinois. Randy worked at IDOT for 20 years before becoming CMAP’s first executive director. CMAP was formed through the merging of two separate regional planning agencies for land use and transportation: the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC) and the Chicago Area Transportation Study (CATS). CMAP established an integrated approach to planning that views the region’s challenges as a whole, rather than in isolation, with an emphasis on changing how development and infrastructure investment decisions are made. In addition to core competencies in data and analysis related to land use, the environment, and transportation, CMAP is committed to addressing interrelated issues such as jobs, housing, and economic development.

Education: Randy holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Illinois State University and has completed 36 hours of graduate work in political studies at the University of Illinois-Springfield (Sangamon State University).

Bio: Deputy Executive Director for Local Planning, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning

Education: Masters of Regional Planning, Cornell University, 2000