Pathway to 2040 – From the Forum on the Future of Northwest Indiana to Implementation

NirpcGBLogocopyThree years ago this month was the beginning of a three year process by NIRPC to develop a plan for the three-county region – Lake, LaPorte and Porter. Thank you to those that participated in that process in some way.

Adopted in June, 2011, the CRP provides a framework for how the region could grow by the year 2040. It also establishes the program for how NIRPC will assist residents of Northwest Indiana in realizing the vision of a region that is vibrant, revitalized, accessible and united.

“Think of the audacity of calling something ‘2040’, but we are that audacious.” Those are the words of NIRPC Commission member and Highland Clerk-Treasurer Michael Griffin at the kick-off meeting of an implementation committee in November. Michael chairs the newly established NIRPC Committee, Pathway to 2040. Its purpose is to encourage and help advance the implementation of the CRP. The next quarterly meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 18 at 9:00 a.m. at the NIRPC office in Portage. Meetings are open to the public.

Based in part on the work of the 500 people who attended the Saturday, December 6, 2008 regional forum in Merrillville, the CRP stresses the following principles: supporting urban reinvestment; ensuring environmental justice; protecting natural resources and minimizing impacts to environmental features and watersheds; and integrating transportation and land use.

To view the full 2040 CRP and its just-released summary, please visit NIRPC’s website at www.nirpc.org.

If you would like the CD version of the full plan or a paper copy of the 2040 CRP Summary, please contact Mary Thorne, Planning Secretary, by email at mthorne@nirpc.org, or by calling NIRPC at 219-763-6060, extension 131.