The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) is leading development of GO TO 2040, the comprehensive regional plan that will guide growth for Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties for the rest of this century. In addition to land use and transportation, GO TO 2040 also addresses the full range of quality-of-life issues, including the natural environment, economic development, housing, and human services such as education, health care and other social services. 
GO TO 2040 invites residents across the region to help fill in the blanks:
Imagine that . . . you’ll work very near where you live.
Imagine that . . . you’ll spend less time and money getting from place to place.
Imagine that . . . our region will lead the world in developing and using green technologies.
Imagine that . . . your children and grandchildren will learn in excellent schools.
Imagine that . . . you’ll have plentiful and clean water for drinking and recreation.
Imagine that . . . you’ll feel safe no matter where you live or visit in the region.
Imagine that . . . you’ll have access to world-class parks and nature preserves.
Imagine that . . . our region can achieve and sustain unsurpassed prosperity for the generations to come.
Input from stakeholders across the region has helped define a Regional Vision that is the basis of CMAP's GO TO 2040 planning process.
To coincide with the Burnham Centennial in summer 2009, the GO TO 2040 campaign has entered an important new phase called "Invent the Future." Web tools developed by CMAP and MetroQuest (sponsored in part by The Chicago Community Trust) let you create your own future scenarios -- and even mail them to friends and post them at sites like Facebook -- to tell us how you want metropolitan Chicago to plan for the additional 2.8 million residents expected by 2040.
Or attend one of 50 “Invent the Future” GO TO 2040 scenario workshops that CMAP is holding with partners across the seven counties. (To find one near you, see our Google map with directions to workshops scheduled to date.) Click here for more about this Invent the Future public-input phase.
In fall 2009, CMAP will develop a preferred scenario that will best reflect the region's desired future. Real-world public policies and investments -- including roads, transit, and other infrastructure -- will be central to the GO TO 2040 comprehensive regional plan when it is finalized in 2010.
Visit www.goto2040.org or contact info@cmap.illinois.gov for details of how to have your say as part of GO TO 2040.