CHPC MISSION STATEMENT

Founded in 1937, Citizens Housing and Planning Council was a direct successor to the coalition of intellectuals and activists responsible for creating a national program of public housing. CHPC's Board of Directors and members have traditionally included architects, lawyers, urban and environmental planners, real estate developers, organized labor, academics, social workers, civic leaders and other informed professionals. Over the years, CHPC has served as one of the city's foremost think tanks dedicated to improving the urban environment.

CHPC has been an incubator of ideas that have become conventional wisdom, pioneering anti-discrimination laws in housing, integrating public and publicly assisted housing into communities through appropriate design standards and site and tenant selection, devising strategies for public/private partnerships to help leverage public funds and utilize private-sector expertise in community development efforts.

CHPC seeks to forge political consensus based on sophisticated technical understanding. We sponsor public policy forums with leading experts to discuss and debate the issues and publish public policy bulletins and research reports to disseminate our findings. CHPC's Book News reports on current literature in housing and planning and related fields; our bi-monthly, The Urban Prospect, has been received enthusiastically by members of the professional housing and financial communities.

CHPC is the only private, city-wide organization devoting itself exclusively and full-time to housing, planning, and urban development issues. An independent not-for-profit organization, CHPC depends entirely on private contributions, special fundraising events, and member support for funding.