First off...

GO TO 2040.  What an incredible week, what an incredible five years.  Thanks so much to everyone who could come out on October 13 to celebrate the launch of GO TO 2040 at the Harris Theater's rooftop terrace following the unanimous approval of the plan at our joint Board and MPO Policy committee meeting Wednesday morning.  This plan could not have come about without the participation, input, and support of our business, civic, and local government partners, as well as the tens of thousands of residents we have met with over the past three years. 

As indicated on Chicago Tonight, the event was standing room only, and I want to thank all of the speakers and panelists who came out to show their support of GO TO 2040, including Senator Dick Durbin, Mayor Richard M. Daley, our board chairman Mayor Gerald Bennett of Palos Hills, MPO policy committee chairman and IDOT secretary Gary Hannig, president and CEO of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce Jerry Roper, trustee and chairman of The Chicago Community Trust John Canning, former president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Michael Moskow, chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education Jesse Ruiz, president and CEO of Chicago Metropolis 2020 George Ranney, and former U.S. DOT secretary Samuel Skinner.  Thanks as well to Geoffrey Baer for moderating the panel and reporting on the event for WTTW that night.  For more coverage of GO TO 2040 in the news, I was interviewed early Wednesday morning on Channel 7, and stories were also published by the Daily Herald, Patch.com's Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills branch, WBEZ, the Chicago Tribune, and more.

Sustainable Communities grant award.  Many of you signed on to "support" GO TO 2040 at the event, which is now more important than ever as we move into implementation of the plan.  On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program awarded CMAP $4.25 million to spur implementation of the plan.  As I said in yesterday's press release, this HUD award could literally not have come at a better time.  This grant will advance the implementation of the plan by funding the GO TO 2040 Local Technical Assistance (LTA) program, which will create new resources for technical assistance and result in a series of innovative, replicable projects in the Chicago region that support livability principles and build capacity in local communities. The Sustainable Communities Initiative is a bold step in breaking down traditional barriers to effective plans and programs. The technical assistance that this award will help us to carry out regionwide will jumpstart our communities' local efforts to implement the GO TO 2040 recommendations. The plan's implementation is largely in those communities' hands, and now they have crucial resources that would not have been available without this innovative new federal program.  When I said on Wednesday that the implementation begins immediately, I was speaking figuratively. This grant means we literally start implementation now.   For more, read this story in the Chicago Tribune.

New website.  If you haven't already, be sure to check out our new CMAP website.  The new site consolidates www.cmap.illinois.gov and goto2040.org into a one-stop shop to learn about the agency and the plan.  Thank you for your patience as we work to populate and improve the site, which will continue to become more user-friendly.  CMAP appreciates your comments on how to improve access to our information.

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