SB 1894. Yesterday the Illinois Senate passed SB 1894 to help communities address the continuing problems associated with foreclosures. It now awaits the Governor's signature. Among other measures, it would require that municipalities receive notice prior to foreclosure, along with contact details of property owners. Passage of this bill has been one of the CMAP Board’s legislative priorities.

FLIP in the Burnham blog. Pat Reardon has a wonderful write-up based on the CMAP Future Leaders in Planning (FLIP) session that he sat in on last week. We have another great group of high school students this year, and I'm sure we'll end up learning at least as much from them as they do from us.

Agriculture and water.  The Northwest Herald had a story about how farmers can help reduce water pollution.  It includes a mention of CMAP's Upper Kishwaukee watershed plan.

Recovery blog. Interested in learning more about the stimulus? Check out this week’s CMAP Economic Recovery Update (and remember, you can read all of our old editions online). We also blogged this week about a new report from Regional ARRA Coordinating Council member the Center for Neighborhood Technology: Creating a Chicago Regional Building Energy Efficiency System.

Economic progress. There was some promising news this week as the U.S. GDP expanded by 3.5 percent during the previous quarter that ended in September. Also, according to the National Association for Business Economics, companies plan to increase hiring and other investments, which had not been the case since July 2008. See this Wall Street Journal blog for opinions by economists, analysts, and investors regarding how robust the upturn might be, including comments about how the stimulus is affecting business. The White House yesterday issued a report stating that the first $150 billion in stimulus spending created 650,000 jobs.

MPC report. The Metropolitan Planning Council has released Advancing Livability Principles: Federal Investment Reforms Lessons from the Chicagoland Experience, which describes some ideas by MPC and its partners (including CMAP) about how to implement principles within the Sustainable Communities Partnership of USDOT, HUD, and EPA. The report got a nice mention at the YoChicago site. For more information, please contact Mandy Burrell Booth (312-863-6018or mburrell@metroplanning.org).

Our Green Metropolis.  The Burnham Centennial is partnering with Chicago Metropolis 2020, Openlands, Mayor Daley's Nature and Wildlife Committee, Chicago Wilderness, and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus to offer "Our Green Metropolis:  The Next 100 Years" on Thursday, November 5, 2009.  A number of Green Legacy projects from around the region will be announced, building on the green infrastructure that organizers call "the greatest legacy of the 1909 Plan."  A reception begins at 5:00 p.m., with program from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Feinberg Auditorium in the Spertus Institute, 610 S. Michigan Ave. Space is limited, so RSVP to reception@burnhamplan100.org or or 888-752-6618.

Burnham event. The centennial rolls on, with new events on virtually a daily basis. One of note is a talk by WGN Radio's Rick Kogan on "The Burnham Legacy," November 10, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. in the Blue Island Public Library, 2433 York Street. Admission is free. Contact Dan Carroll (708-388-1078 ext. 30).

Post-2016 planning.  The Trib's John McCarron wrote a column this week to suggest a "back-to-basics approach" to building on the Olympics experience.

Library honor. A GO TO 2040 partner, the Gail Borden Public Library, will receive the National Medal for Museum and Library Service as one of the top five libraries in the nation. Library director Carole Medal will visit the White House, where First Lady Michelle Obama will award the medal. The library's Miriam Lytle said to us in an e-mail, "We are very excited about the award. It is a great tribute to excellent partners like you, and community members who work with us to make this a dynamic library district." The Gail Borden Library has partnered with CMAP by hosting GO TO 2040 Community Conversations, an Invent the Future workshop and kiosk, displays from the Elgin Community Design project, and a 2-1-1 community forum.

Roads honor. The Illinois Tollway effort to widen the North/Central Tri-State Tollway has been named the year's top road project nationally by Roads & Bridges magazine. The magazine praised the Tollway's "first-of-its-kind bioswale demonstration project aimed at filtering suspended solids, trapping sediments and removing pollutants" from stormwater drainage.

CNT report.  Not all green buildings are created equal, says a new report from the Center for Neighborhood Technology. 

Champlain Bridge. This is an especially dramatic example of how neglected infrastructure can negatively affect a region.

Supply Chain Management and Freight Transportation Symposium.  Registration is now open for the 2009 UIC Supply Chain Management and Freight Transportation Symposium hosted by the University of Illinois at Chicago Center for Supply Chain Management and the Urban Transportation Center. The symposium will be held at University of Illinois at Chicago Illinois Room, Student Center East Tuesday, November 17, 2009, 8:30 a.m. to  2:30 p.m. Keynote speakers include Shailen Bhatt, the associate administrator for Policy and Government Affairs at the Federal Highway Administration and Bob Stoffel, senior vice president for Engineering, Strategy, Supply Chain and Sustainability at United Parcel Service. Other speakers include George Billows, executive director of the Illinois Trucking Association and co-chairman of the CMAP Freight Committee, UIC professor Kazuya Kawamura, a member of the CMAP Freight Committee, and Tom Murtha, project manager for CMAP’s Regional Freight System Planning Recommendations project. A fee of $50.00 includes continental breakfast, luncheon and reception). Click here to register or here for more information. 

Lawrence Halprin. If you don't know his name, you should. Mr. Halprin passed away this week but will live on via his visionary contributions to the redesign of Lake Shore Drive. Read about it in an appreciation at the Tribune's Cityscapes blog.

Conversation with the critics. The Chicago Architecture Foundation will host an event featuring leading voices in the field of architectural criticism to discuss the future of cities worldwide. Topics will focus on urban planning, infrastructure and architecture and the critics will consider ideas of model cities and how design serves as a catalyst for change. Critics include Jonathan Glancey (The Guardian), Paul Goldberger (The New Yorker), Sarah Williams Goldhagen (The New Republic) and Blair Kamin (Chicago Tribune). Tickets are $15 for students, $25 for CAF members, and $30 for the general public. The event takes place Thursday, November 5, 2009, starting at 5:30 p.m. at the Murphy Auditorium, 50 E. Erie Street, Chicago. Register online or call Whitney Moeller at 312-922-3432 x.271.

Imagining the future in Wheeling. Legat Architects, who helped us and the City of Wheeling in our GO TO 2040 Community Design Workshops, recently added a handy GO TO 2040 button to their website and a page about their involvement with the project. See and comment on all of the ideas from Wheeling and check out what other cities in the region imagined for their future as well on our Community Design Workshops page.

In the GO TO 2040 blog. This week we featured a beautiful fall shot from Jackson Park’s Osaka Garden, originally designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. We also posted visualizations of all of the regional priorities from our Invent the Future workshops in neat Wordle images.

Lot of tweets. Do you follow us on Twitter? We’re nearing 450 followers at our Twitter feed. You might like to use it or other social networking tools to keep up with the latest from CMAP and GO TO 2040.

Project Notification mailing. CMAP continues a monthly Project Notification summary to apprise state legislators, local governmental officials, and other interested parties of applications for federal and state grants that may have an impact on their communities. Click here for the latest, and contact Jamie Krell (312-386-8658 or jkrell@cmap.illinois.gov) for more information.
 

Stay involved!  Though our Invent the Future phase has ended, your participation is still key.  Be sure to visit our Idea Zone pages for the latest opportunities to participate in the GO TO 2040 comprehensive regional plan. For example, you can comment on the draft preferred Regional Scenario and on potential strategies for implementing the 2040 regional vision and You can also weigh in at the GO TO 2040 blog. We sincerely appreciate your willingness to tell us your priorities for the seven-county metropolitan region.