Like the planners and leaders of the past, we have a chance to determine the nature and character of our region for many years to come.

Winter 2002

Vacant Land

hese words—vacant land—pose a significant challenge to those of us concerned about the conservation of natural communities in this region and, indeed, for anyone concerned about the quality of our lives into the future.

These are the terms—vacant land—used most often by traditional planners and businessmen, economists, builders, and municipal officials, and they reveal a mindset that is all too standard.

Many of the people thinking about what the greater Chicago metropolitan area might look like 30 years from now often frame the question this way: We expect the population in the six-county area to grow by 1.5 million people by 2030. Where will these new inhabitants live and work? Should new housing developments be spread across all the vacant land on the fringes of our currently-developed areas, or should housing and jobs be clustered around existing and new mass transit hubs and developed as “in-fill” in the already-settled urban/suburban core?

This framework is false and harmful. It reflects the thinking that all land— indeed, by extension, all of Creation—is there for our use, only waiting for us to build upon it, or plow it, to mine it or log it or harvest its resources in some fashion. At one time this mindset went by the name ‘Manifest Destiny,’ and it is false for two reasons.

First, because no land is truly vacant. In this region, what some misinformed planners call “vacant land” is either natural lands—woods, marshes, a very few prairie remnants providing essential habitat for tens of thousands of creatures other than ourselves. Or, second, what is called “vacant land” is agricultural land that feeds us.

To consider the agricultural lands and natural lands around us as “vacant” is to make a fatal error, for if we consume them all in our headlong rush to grow, then we will have fouled our own nest and eaten the chicken that provided the eggs that feed us.

Fortunately, all is not lost. Today we stand at a crossroads.

Like the planners and leaders of the past, we have a chance to determine the nature and character of our region for many years to come.

We stand at a crossroads because we have it within our power, both individually and collectively, to create human communities that are rich culturally, robust economically, attractive and affordable to live in and work. We also have a chance to forge these human communities in a way that celebrates, respects, and sustains rich and robust natural communities nearby.

The article beginning on page 12 describes The Metropolis Plan for Growth and Transportation, one of several regional planning initiatives now underway. We invite you to participate in the process of creating a vision for this region by looking closely at the maps, pondering some of the choices that might lead to alternative development scenarios other than “business as usual,” and filling out the questionnaire on page 16. We have a chance, individually and collectively, by acting in ways that are wise and thoughtful now, to make this region a worthy example for this nation and the world.

Debra Shore may be reached at editor@chicagowildernessmag.org.