Supportive solutions
GIS Consortium provides cutting-edge data to impacted communities
By Bob Brown
Life is good in the Village of Tinley Park.
Located along the Interstate 80 corridor about 25
miles southwest of downtown Chicago, Tinley Park
has a population of about 57,000 and recently was
named “The Best Place to Raise Your Kids in Illinois” by
BusinessWeek magazine and the ninth-best “small” city
in America by the real estate research blog Movoto.
Many factors go into maintaining a thriving community,
and Steve Tilton, Tinley Park’s assistant village manager,
says a key factor for his community is its membership in
the GIS Consortium (GISC).
Sharing assets
Formed in 1999 by four suburban communities, today
the GISC is an organization of 27 Chicago-area cities and
villages covering more than 206 square miles, with a
combined population of more than 756,000. Through the
GISC these municipalities work cooperatively to find cost-
effective solutions to shared urban planning challenges
using advanced geographic information systems and
related technologies.
Since its inception, the GISC has relied on Ayres
Associates to provide its member communities
with detailed, three-dimensional mapping that
allows them to more capably and efficiently
deal with challenges facing virtually every
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department of municipal government. These maps allow
communities to create cost-effective plans for everything
from stormwater/utility maintenance and road building
to providing public safety and managing urban forestry.
Joining the GISC in 2009 wasn’t an easy decision for
Tinley Park officials.
“We had to do our homework to ensure the $250,000
annual expenditure for the Village would be money well
spent,” Tilton said. But, he adds, today it’s clear Tinley
Park residents are getting their money’s worth for that
investment.
“It’s been fantastic,” Tilton said of the GISC. “The
expertise they bring to all their communities, how
to collect and sort that data and distribute it to our
residents, has worked out very well.”
Efficiencies appreciated
GISC data allows Tinley Park to provide on its website
a map on which residents can click on their property
to receive a wealth of individualized information –
everything from their polling place and tax assessments
to garbage pickup dates and scheduled street
maintenance.
“More than anything, it’s a great way to link a lot of
information in one place,” Tilton said. “It makes it very