COMMUNITY MAPPING: NOTEWORTHY FACTS

• MAPPING the Future of Your Community began in 1991 with support from the Office of the Lieutenant Governor and the Governor's Rural Affairs Council.
• Funding for the MAPPING project shifted to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity in FY1996.
• As of November 2006, the Community MAPPING project has been conducted in 95 cities located in 48 different Illinois counties.
• The average size MAPPING community has a population of about 3,000, however, communities participating in the program have ranged in size from as small as 313 to as large as 18,441.
• The average number of community participants in MAPPING programs is 30 people -- since 1991, more than 3,000 rural Illinois residents have participated in MAPPING programs!
• With the majority of support coming from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, MAPPING is designed to provide assistance to communities that might not otherwise be able to afford these services from private-sector contractors. In addition, community sponsorships, based on population size and travel costs, help offset some of our program expenses.
• Results from MAPPING community visioning and planning projects over the past 15 years are impressive - examples include houses built, entrepreneurial businesses developed, parks and recreation amenities improved, increased access to health care services, and other widespread, organized efforts for community and economic development. An outcome study conducted in 2004 revealed that 77% of MAPPING communities went on to successfully create new jobs in their communities.