The Chicago Plan Commission is a commission implemented to promote the ''Plan of Chicago,'' often called the
Burnham Plan
The Burnham Plan is a popular name for the 1909 ''Plan of Chicago'', co-authored by Daniel Burnham and Edward H. Bennett and published in 1909. It recommended an integrated series of projects including new and widened streets, parks, new rail ...
. After official presentation of the Plan to the city on July 6, 1909, the
City Council of Chicago
The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms. The council is gaveled into session regularly, usually mont ...
authorized
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
Fred A. Busse to appoint the members of the Chicago Plan Commission. On November 1, 1909, the City Council approved the appointment of 328 men selected as members of the Commission—men broadly representative of all the business and social interests of the city.
Charles H. Wacker was appointed permanent chairman by the Mayor, and served until 1926, when he was succeeded by James Simpson.
Walter Moody was the managing director of the Chicago Plan Commission for nine years until his death in 1920. He was succeeded for 22 years by
Eugene Taylor. Moody was renowned for his ingenuity as a spokesperson for the Plan. The ''Encyclopedia of Chicago'' recounts one of his more successful acts of salesmanship: "Moody, the salesman nonpareil, even raised the enactment of the Plan to a sacred calling. On Sunday, January 19, 1919, some 80 Chicago churches participated in what were called "Nehemiah Day" services. The ministers of these congregations agreed to take the words of the Old Testament prophet Nehemiah, "Therefore we, His servants, will arise and build," as the basis of their sermons, in which they would advocate the implementation of the Plan of Chicago." Moody also prepared a textbook, ''Wacker's Manual of the Plan of Chicago,'' which taught the major aspects of the Plan to a generation of Chicago schoolchildren.
The Commission was successful at fostering relationships with politicians of several types and at encouraging voters to support its initiatives. Between 1912 and 1931, Chicagoans approved 86 Plan-related bond issues covering some 17 different projects.
The commission was reorganized in 1939, becoming part of city government. The name ''Chicago Plan Commission'' has persisted through a number of administrative reorganizations; today the Chicago Plan Commission is staffed by the city of Chicago's Department of Zoning and Land Use Planning. Its 18 members adopt plans and review certain proposed developments as advisors to the city council.
See also
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Streets and highways of Chicago
Roads and expressways in Chicago summarizes the main thoroughfares and the numbering system used in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs.
Street layout
Chicago's streets were laid out in a grid that grew from the city's original townsite plan pl ...
Notes
External linksEncyclopedia of Chicago Online Plan Implementation
History of Chicago
{{Chicago municipal government officials