Chicago, Illinois
Lake Calumet Airport

As part of the program to assess the merits of a third Chicago airport, Camiros provided an evaluation of the airport's impact on regional development patterns, as well as on the area immediately surrounding the airport. This involved projecting the development pattern that might be expected to occur in the vicinity of the airport. The analysis included conducting population and employment projections, regional and local policies and objectives, and development studies of a dozen other airports around the country.

The analysis from a regional planning perspective identified a number of reasons why the site, which was selected over four others, was the preferred location for the new Chicagoland airport :

• It would provide the only feasible means of rehabilitating and recycling the Lake Calumet area.
• It would provide more net jobs than any other candidate site.
• It would act as a catalyst for redevelopment and revitalization of the entire southern half of the metropolitan region.
• It would require far smaller investments in public and private infrastructure, including highways and sewers.
• It would serve as a reliever for O'Hare by offering similar accessibility and travel times.
• It would meet regional and local objectives of containing public expenditures, preserving high-quality farmland and curbing sprawl.
• It would offer a ready pool of employees to both the airlines and ancillary users.
• It would help reduce the subsidy burdens caused by underutilization and underemployment in the southern portion of the region.
• It would benefit northwestern Indiana as well as northeastern Illinois.