CNU Midwest Strategic Plan

CONGRESS FOR THE NEW URBANISM MIDWEST

STRATEGIC PLAN

WORKING TOGETHER TO MAKE GREAT MIDWESTERN PLACES

WHO WE ARE

For over 30 years, Congress for the New Urbanism members has been designing, planning, and building walkable urbanism. In that time, significant progress has been made to normalize and promote more dense human-scaled development. Since its establishment in 2017, CNU Midwest has supported the national organization and upheld the tenants in the founding charter. The Midwest Chapter encompasses Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia, Western Pennsylvania, and Eastern Missouri and includes the subchapters in the major metros of Chicago and Cincinnati.

CNUMIDWEST DMA

Charleston - Hunington DMA

Cincinnati DMA

Clarksburg DMA

Cleveland DMA

Columbus - Zanesville DMA

Dayton DMA

Erie DMA

Evansville DMA

Fort Wayne DMA

CNU Illinois

Indianapolis DMA

Johnstown - Altoona - State

College DMA

Lexington DMA

Louisville DMA

Paducah - Cape Girardeau

DMA

Pittsburg DMA

South Bend DMA

St. Louis DMA

Terre Haute DMA

Toledo - Lima DMA

Wheeling - Steubenville DMA

Youngstown DMA

Though CNU can celebrate success in neighborhoods and public realms across the nation, many legacy cities and small towns in the Midwest have lagged behind or been denied the benefits of new urbanism. These Midwest communities have faced decades of challenges and are acutely vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks. Many have experienced depopulation, loss of employment, and shrinking tax bases. And yet, these uniquely Midwestern places continue to inspire innovation, creativity, and resilience.

In 2020, the Congress for New Urbanism identified three main areas of focus:

Grow and support neighborhoods that are both walkable and affordable;

Work to change codes and regulations blocking walkable urbanism; and,

Advance design strategies that help communities adapt to climate change and mitigate its future impact.

In addition to the core challenges identified by Congress for the New Urbanism, the Midwest faces its own unique obstacles. Many of our communities were founded on manufacturing industries that have long since departed for foreign shores or transitioned jobs formerly performed by people to tasks performed by machines, leaving in their wake the legacy infrastructure, facilities, and resources designed to sustain them. Populations of once-thriving metropolises have declined or been redistributed across sprawling suburbs. The result has been development patterns promoting automobile dependence, wasteland, and natural resources, cultivating places that are not worthy of pride.

Our goal is to support, restore, and retrofit the great, traditional urban fabric we already possess in the Midwest. With this Strategic Plan, CNU Midwest intends to cultivate resources and opportunities to address these challenges through three main pillars-- educate, engage, and encourage. The strategies outlined in this plan are intended to guide the Chapter over the next five years and focus our energy and attention on working together to make great Midwestern places.

STRATEGIC AREAS

CNU Midwest has identified three strategic areas to help guide the chapter’s work and its partners in Working Together to Make Great Midwestern Places. These strategic areas focus on clear and measurable objectives, which tie the chapter’s mission to that of the Congress for New Urbanism.

CNU Midwest recognizes that everyone’s experiences and interactions with New Urbanism are highly varied. The EDUCATE strategic area is focused on better-connecting everyone with the message of New Urbanism. By providing new urbanist resources and promoting CNU accreditation, work to communicate by clarifying that New Urbanism is for everyone.

Relationships and connections are essential to working together. The ENGAGE strategic area is building awareness and trust within the CNU Midwest community. By growing the network of committed partners, fostering subchapter development, connecting with universities, and establishing spaces for authentic and productive collaboration, the chapter can develop a network of New Urbanism experts across the Midwest.

Making great places takes effort, energy, creativity, friends, and care for our communities. Through the ENCOURAGE strategic area, the chapter will celebrate, recognize, and support New Urbanist efforts taking place across the region. We will highlight the value of New Urbanist projects to communities, using our organization as a champion of support for these efforts. Expand the promotion and implementing New Urbanism.

Committee Co-Chairs: Katy Shackelford, Kevin Buettner

Committee Members: Matt Ireton, Brian Boland

OBJECTIVE 1.1 PROVIDE RESOURCES THAT PROMOTE NEW URBANISM PRINCIPLES

1.1.1 Promote existing material developed by Congress for the New Urbanism to members and advocates

1.1.2 Develop new print and video material with a unique regional focus as CNU Midwest, which can be distributed and promoted to members and advocates

1.1.3 Include a line item in the annual CNU Midwest operating budget which funds the development and procurement of educational materials that can be widely distributed

1.1.4 Attend American Planning Association, American Institute of Architects, Urban Land Institute, Lincoln Land Institute, National League of Cities, American Sociological Association and American Society of Landscape Architects’ forums and events as allowed to cross-promote CNU Midwest

1.1.5 Partner with existing professional organizations that offer CE (Continuing Education) Credits to incentivize professionals to attend and learn New Urbanism Principles

1.1.6 Provide speakers who can speak to what New Urbanism is and is not to allied associations (e.g., APA, AIA, ASA, ASLA, etc.) for their regional conferences.

OBJECTIVE 1.2 PROMOTE CNU ACCREDITATION

1.2.1 Provide education and training material to prepare CNU Midwest members to take and pass the CNU-A Exam

1.2.2 Provide or promote programming that satisfies CNU-A continuing education credit requirements

1.2.3 Encourage and incentivize at least five members to take the CNU-A exam by 12/31/2024 and five members each year after 2024

STRATEGIC

OBJECTIVE 1.3 RAISE GENERAL AWARENESS OF NEW URBANISM

1.3.1 Provide low-cost training and/or workshops for targeted audiences, including but not limited to elected officials, allied professionals, young professionals, students, and community members throughout the Midwest Chapter using both in-person and online resources

STRATEGIC AREA #2

Committee Co-Chairs: Rachael Aziz, Alex Betsch

Committee Members: John Yung, Mary Kate Genis, Megan Karalambo, Baird Bream, Jocelyn Gibson, Elise Jones

OBJECTIVE 2.1 STRATEGICALLY LAUNCH AND GROW REGIONAL SUBCHAPTERS

2.1.1 Create a “New SubChapter Starter Kit” by 7/31/2023. This kit will advise starting a subchapter and outline responsibilities and obligations (e.g., “subchapter shall host at least one event per year,” etc.).

2.1.2 Support the immediate launch and sustainability of a regional subchapter in Chicago, Illinois by 2023

2.1.3 Support the immediate launch and sustainability of a regional subchapter in Cincinnati, Ohio, by 2023

2.1.4 Support the mid-to-long-term launch and sustainability of a regional subchapter in Columbus, Ohio

2.1.5 Support the mid-to-long-term launch and sustainability of a regional subchapter in Cleveland, Ohio

2.1.6 Support the mid-to-long-term launch and sustainability of a regional subchapter in Louisville, Kentucky

2.1.7 Support the mid-to-long-term launch and sustainability of a regional subchapter in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

2.1.8 Support the mid-to-long-term launch and sustainability of a regional subchapter in St. Louis, Missouri

2.1.9 Support the mid-to-long-term launch and sustainability of a regional subchapter in Indianapolis, Indiana

2.1.10 Encourage each subchapter to raise at minimum $1,000 per year through fundraiser efforts to support the growth and sustainability of both the

2.1.11 Include a line item in the annual adopted CNU Midwest operating budget which funds at least one annual education or social event for each established subchapter

STRATEGIC AREA #2

OBJECTIVE 2.2 BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES THAT ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO BECOME MEMBERS OF CNU

2.2.1 Ensure at least one position on the CNU Midwest Board of Directors is a student who is currently (or recently within one year) enrolled at a college or university that promotes membership in student organizations

2.2.2 Establish an annual scholarship that provides partial support to the CNU Midwest student member so they can attend the annual Congress

2.2.3 Include a line item in the annual CNU Midwest operating budget which funds the travel and outreach of board members to colleges and Universities across the Midwest Chapter

2.2.4 Develop materials that can be distributed to colleges and universities across the Midwest that promotes the Chapter for New Urbanism along with steps on how students can be regularly involved in the organization

2.2.5 Cultivate engagement with student members of colleges and universities by regularly sending cards of support for awards and/or major accomplishments

OBJECTIVE 2.3 GROW THE NUMBER OF NEW URBANISTS ACROSS THE MIDWEST CHAPTER

2.3.1 Ensure the chapter membership list is updated with the most recent data from Congress for the New Urbanism at the beginning of each calendar year

2.3.2 At the guidance of the Board of Directors, establish an annual membership goal that can be reasonably achieved by the end of the years annual membership drive

2.3.3 Establish direct communication with members across the region by sending at least two cards or letters each year from the Board of Directors

STRATEGIC AREA #3

Committee Co-Chairs: MK Lindsey, Dan Baisden

Committee Members: Justin Mondok, Jeff Raser

OBJECTIVE 3.1 STRATEGICALLY LAUNCH AND GROW REGIONAL SUBCHAPTERS

3.1.1 Collect and curate quality stories about great work happening in the CNU space to share through social media and other avenues. It could include profiles of CNU Members, CNU Subchapters, and CNU-aligned projects

OBJECTIVE 3.2 CELEBRATE AND HIGHLIGHT NEW URBANISM PROJECTS AND APPLIED PRINCIPLES

3.2.1 Encourage the submission of at least one project from the Midwest region for CNU Awards each year

3.2.2 Develop and promote an annual CNU Midwest Awards that serve to encourage the principles of New Urbanism to be applied to projects

3.2.3 Establish process and criteria for offering endorsements of projects and policies that align with CNU Midwest’s goals and best practices. This could include letters to governing officials, op-eds, and social media posts

OBJECTIVE 3.3 DEVELOP AND SUPPORT REGIONAL NEW URBANISM EVENTS

3.3.1 Support an annual New Urbanism gathering in a different Midwest city each year that engages members and prospects across the chapter and provides an opportunity to network and gain new knowledge on the principles of New Urbanism

3.3.2 Support CNU 32 Cincinnati by assisting in the recruitment of volunteers and growing membership

3.3.3 Support CNU 32 Cincinnati campaign tour (to at least five cities) starting in 2023 to help cultivate new membership in the organization while promoting the conference and encouraging non-traditional participants to register and attend

CNUMIDWEST

Board of Directors

Dan Baisden, Board Chair

Katy Shackelford, Vice Chair

Mary Kate Genis, Clerk

Phil Holoubek, Treasurer

Jeff Raser, Communications

Justin Mondok, Operations

Baird Bream, Chicago Subchapter

Representative

Megan Karalambo, Cincinnati

Subchapter Representative

Gary Scott, National Board Chapter

Liaison

Elise Jones, Student Representative

Rachael Aziz, At-Large Representative

Alex Betsch, At-Large Representative

Brian Boland, At-Large Representative

Kevin Buettner, At-Large Representative

Jocelyn Gibson, At-Large

Representative

Matt Ireton, At-Large Representative

MK Lindsey, At-Large Representative

Jeffery Tompkins, At-Large

Representative

John Yung, At-Large Representative