Communities GO TO 2040. Ever wonder how your town might look decades from now? The Aurora Beacon News has a story about our community-design activities in partnership with the City of Yorkville. It's great to see residents debating the future of their community like this as part of GO TO 2040. In addition to Yorkville's, click here to see other striking illustrations as we add them from participating communities like Arlington Heights, Barrington, Blue Island, Elgin, Fairmont, Fox River Grove, Rogers Park, Streamwood, Sugar Grove, Tinley Park, UIC/Greektown/West Loop, Wheeling, and Winfield to develop visualizations to reflect how residents, local officials, and business leaders envisioned each of these communities' future. Renderings were created by designers at the Conservation Design Forum, FitzGerald Associates, Gensler, Ghafari Associates, Ginkgo Planning & Design, Greene & Proppe Design, HOK, JJR, Legat Architects, Loebl Schlossman & Hackl, MMG Studio, P+K Atelier, SmithGroup, Teska Associates, Topografis, and Zoka Zola Architecture + Urban Design. I'd like to thank all the participants from these communities and firms who are helping to invent the future of metropolitan Chicago.

Scenario Evaluation. Related to the community-design project, we have posted three sample scenarios -- Reinvest, Preserve, and Innovate -- that present distinct alternatives for how the region can meet the challenges associated with 2.8 million new residents anticipated by 2040. These alternatives are presented in considerably more detail than might interest the average resident, but we are keenly interested in how our fellow policy wonks and CMAP partners react to the alternative scenarios. As you'll see, you're able to comment in great depth on the Scenario Evaluation website. Please take some time to consider these scenarios and let us know what you think. As with our general-public Invent the Future activities, your input will help shape the "Preferred Regional Scenario" that the CMAP Board will be asked to consider later this year.

Invent the Future workshops. If you haven't checked our workshop schedule lately, please do -- we've added some new dates. Next week, we'll be at Rogers Park (Chicago) on July 28 (co-hosted by State Senator Heather Steans and 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore), the Active Transportation Alliance on July 29, West Chicago on July 29, Bartlett on July 30, and Tinley Park on July 30. The first week of August finds us in Bronzeville (Chicago) on August 4, Harvard on August 5, and Schaumburg on August 6. This past week's workshops included Elgin, Pullman (Chicago), and East Hazel Crest. As ever, registration is requested but not required. You can register online, via email, or by calling Joey-Lin Silberhorn at 312-386-8814.

Nigel Telman. CMAP Board member Nigel Telman of Sidley Austin LLP was the subject of a nice feature this week in the Chicago Tribune's business section.

Bike contest results. The Active Transportation Alliance has announced the winners of this year's Bike Commuter Challenge, which attracted 3,240 participants and more than 300 places of business. CMAP defended its crown in the category of public agencies with 25 to 99 employees, winning for the third time in our four years of existence. We had a participation rate of 42 percent, compared with 33 percent last year. Congratulations to all the other winners and participants.

Stimulus report. Smart Growth America, the Illinois Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), and Gamaliel of Illinois have issued a new report on Illinois stimulus projects, in which they give the state high marks for having moved rapidly to spend funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In a news release, Illinois PIRG director Brian Imus said, "This report shows that Illinois is facing our most immediate transportation challenges head-on. Illinois is outpacing other states and making the kinds of decisions that will mean more jobs." That's obviously good to hear, but I also agree with Smart Growth America president Geoff Anderson, who said, "Selection of stimulus transportation projects so far shows how badly we need to change the way states make decisions that affect our commutes, our pocketbooks, and our lives. To make that happen, future federal transportation funding must include clear goals and accountability for reaching those goals."

Census report. Yesterday the U.S. Census issued figures about federal domestic spending for 2008. "Consolidated Federal Funds Report: 2008" describes distribution of federal funds by department and agency and by state and county. "Federal Aid to States: 2008" shows federal grants to state and local governments. Funds related to the ARRA are not included because the act was passed in 2009. Read more in a census bureau news release.

Straight Dope. Cecil Adams's venerable column in the Reader has a Chicago-centric version, which this week featured an interesting response to a question about our region's national and global ranking in terms of population.

Tweeting day and night. We tweeted from the Invent the Future workshops this week in Elgin and East Hazel Crest, along with some fun photo tweets from the DuPage County Fair. If you're not already one of our 327 followers on Twitter, you're missing out!

2009 Upper Midwest Planning Conference. Registration is now open for the Upper Midwest Planning Conference, September 24-26, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. CMAP has partnered with the American Planning Association, the American Institute of Architects, Landmarks Illinois, the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission, and the Chicago Department of Zoning & Land Use Planning to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1909 Plan of Chicago at this landmark gathering. Over 40 mobile workshop sessions will take participants throughout the Chicago region to experience the legacy of the 1909 plan and its influence on planning, architecture, and preservation throughout the Midwest and beyond. Special rates are available for students and elected and appointed officials. Visit the conference website at www.ilapa.org for registration and hotel information, workshop descriptions, and much more regarding this once-in-a-hundred-years event.

Dead River and Kellogg Creek watersheds tour. On Saturday, August 8, the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission is sponsoring a tour of the Dead River and Kellogg Creek watersheds. You're invited to join local experts and get an up-close look at the streams and watersheds in northeast Lake County to find out what makes them unique. Participants will board a charter bus at Illinois Beach State Park and tour/visit sites in both watersheds, including Bull Creek, Kellogg Creek, Dead Dog Creek, Spring Bluff, Waukegan Harbor, and local restoration projects. Space is limited so registration is required. Please see the flyer for details and registration information.

Upper Fox River meeting. A public meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 25 at 6:00 p.m. to present information and receive comments on two, draft Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Stage 1 Reports. One report addresses the Upper Fox River/Chain O'Lakes Watershed and the other report covers the Upper Fox River/Flint Creek Watershed. The meeting will be led by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency at the University Center of Lake County, 1200 University Center Drive, Grayslake, IL 60030. Click to download PDFs of the Chain O'Lakes report and the Flint Creek report.

In the GO TO 2040 blog. We launched our new Monday Flickr Photo feature with a beautiful shot from Harvard, Illinois. CMAP's Sean Glowacz recaps the Sugar Grove and Riverside Invent the Future workshops. And Daniel H. Burnham V talks about the semantics of "sustainability."