Mid-South Communities Invited to Help Plan Retail, Transportation Access
Ald.
Toni
Preckwinkle (4th Ward), in partnership with the Quad
Communities Development Corporation, and the new initiative Reconnecting
Neighborhoods, invites community members to a series of local meetings on Feb.
20, 27, and March 5, to:
-
Voice their opinions about how to make their
neighborhood more convenient and vibrant.
-
Plan improvements that will increase access to
transportation, shopping and jobs.
-
Learn more about transportation and retail
amenities -- both current
and potential -- in the
Grand Boulevard,
North
Kenwood, Douglas, and
Oakland
neighborhoods.
These meetings are the first community meetings for Reconnecting
Neighborhoods
,
which will invite residents of three
Chicago
mixed-income neighborhoods to participate in
the planning for the future of their communities. The project will result
in recommendations for enhanced transit services, retail, and improved
public infrastructure in Near North, Near West and Mid-South neighborhoods. The
project is being led by the City of Chicago Dept. of Planning and Development,
with support from the Regional Transportation Authority and MPC. HNTB, a
planning firm, will handle the project’s technical work and research.
For more information, including locations, contact MPC
Reconnecting Neighborhoods Manager Brandon Johnson , 312-863-6046 or bjohnson@metroplanning.org. And check out the Reconnecting
Neighborhoods Web site next week for a revamped look, profiles of community members, and more details
about this initiative.
New Case Studies Show Local Leaders Are Working to Balance Housing Options
Earlier this month, St. Charles, Ill., adopted an
inclusionary zoning ordinance and housing trust fund, joining a handful of
municipalities in metropolitan Chicago taking steps to address the regional and
national affordable housing crunch. MPC, Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, and Chicago
Metropolis 2020 are helping to promote such actions through the expanded edition of
Home Grown: Local Housing Strategies in Action
, featuring 51 best practices from the
region.
Home Grown
helps municipal officials and
housing developers learn how their peers are solving housing challenges, and provides
ideas for replicating or improving upon these approaches. This collection is a “living”
resource that is updated annually with new, local examples of
case studies on innovative housing policies and developments, including regional programs
such as employer-assisted housing. New
to
the
guide
this
year
are
profiles
from
Bartlett, Chicago,
DuPage
County,
Elgin,
Glenview,
Joliet,
Kane
County,
Naperville, Northlake, Park
Forest,
Plainfield,
and
Schaumburg.
Download a copy of Home Grown
;
or contact
MPC Community Building
Associate
Josh
Ellis, 312-863-6045, or
jellis@metroplanning.org
.
MPC Encouraged by Proposals to Improve Federal Transportation Funding
Voters in metropolitan regions like Chicago are going to
the polls in record numbers, calling for federal leadership on issues critical
to their daily lives. Like healthcare and homeownership, transportation – not
only how people get from place to place, but also a major factor in the
amenities they have access to – needs a dose of fresh thinking at the federal
level. MPC is encouraged by the bold thinking in the report “Transportation for
Tomorrow
,” the product of a national commission charged by Congress with improving
transportation funding policies, including recommendations to:
-
Increase transportation funding at the state and
federal level to improve aging bridges, roads, transit systems, and rail
infrastructure.
-
Institute performance and accountability standards
that require economic justification for projects.
-
Increase funding for transit, passenger rail, and
freight projects.
-
Hike the gas tax. (Note: MPC also recommends
exploring alternative funding sources for the highway trust fund, as gas tax
revenues continue to decline.)
-
Expand authorization for
congestion pricing and public-private partnerships.
Many of these recommendations mirror MPC proposals for
state action. In preparation for reauthorization of a federal surface
transportation bill in 2009, and in partnership with The Brookings
Institution’s Blueprint for American Prosperity
, MPC will push for a new federal transportation framework to support
metro regions. Contact MPC Regional Policy & Transportation
Director Michael
McLaughlin,
mmclaughlin@metroplanning.org
or 312-863-6022.
Modeshift Conference Will Encourage Communities to Be Low-Carbon Leaders
The Climate Group recently issued a report stating, “State and regional governments around the
world are fast becoming an essential part of the movement to combat climate
change.” In metropolitan Chicago, municipalities, too, have more actively been
seeking strategies for curbing emissions and saving energy. Local planners and
community leaders will have plenty of ideas to choose from at the Healthy Streets Conference
, taking
place Thursday, Feb. 28, from
9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Metcalf Federal
Building, 3rd floor, 77 W. Jackson, Chicago.
The theme of this
year’s conference, "Modeshift," encourages community leaders and planners to
calculate their communities' transportation carbon footprints and equips them with
the tools they need to significantly reduce them. Keynote speaker Martha
Roskowski, of Go Boulder, will give an account
of
Boulder’s
efforts to be a low-carbon leader in
Colorado
and the nation.
Registration is $35 for Chicagoland Bicycle Federation
members and $45 for non-members. Lunch is included. Attendees may register online.
Reporters may attend free of charge, but registration is appreciated.
This event is presented by the
U.S. EPA and the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, and co-sponsored by the
Metropolitan Planning Council, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, and
Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission.