Posted on February 11, 2011 4:23 PM
February 11, 2011
Table of Contents
First Off...
CMAP Board meeting recap. The Board met on Wednesday and discussed a number of topics including the 2011 State Agenda, an issue brief on the “55/45 split,” and a state legislative update. The State Agenda will be used to guide and communicate our state priorities for this year. The Board approved the staff recommendation for nominees to the Board’s Tax Policy Task Force, that will be chaired by Board member Frank Beal. We are looking to schedule the Task Force’s initial meeting in late March or early April. A summary and an update of the Local Technical Assistance (LTA) applications was also provided. Finally, Bob Weissbourd presented the findings of the Chicago Community Trust supported report titled Economic impacts of GO TO 2040.
CMAP in the news. The Crain's Chicago Business cover story this week was "The Graying of Chicago," about how more than 2 million baby boomers in the region will begin turning 65 this year. John Pletz's article quotes me regarding how this demographic change will influence housing, transportation, workforce, and more. WBBM radio also featured a radio segment based on the Crain's story, as will NPR station WNIJ next Wednesday.
Events
CMAQ pre-application workshop. Two pre-application workshops will be held for applicants to the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ). CMAP will host the first at our offices on February 24, 2011, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Reservations are required by February 22. The West Central Municipal Conference will host the second workshop on March 3 at 9:45 a.m. in the LaGrange Village Hall.
Building a Sustainable Community. From 8:00 a.m. to noon on March 2, CMAP will host a roundtable on how to achieve sustainable communities for local governments, organized in collaboration with the USGBC-Illinois Chapter, Farr Associates, and the Congress for New Urbanism. Attendees will learn key principles of smart planning, how the LEED for Neighborhood Development is one road map to accomplishing this goal, and how GO TO 2040 can help communities to plan for a greener, livable tomorrow.
Transport Chicago. The 2011 Transport Chicago Steering Committee issued a Call for Papers for the annual conference, to be held on June 3. All abstracts must be submitted electronically by March 4 to abstracts@transportchicago.org.
Other News and Announcements
Water 2050 newsletter. The latest Water 2050 newsletter includes information on new Lake Michigan permittees, upcoming events on lawn care and rebate programs, and more.
Revitalizing real estate. CMAP made substantial data, graphics, and map contributions to the Chicago Neighborhood Initiative's Revitalizing Our Marketplace, which was rolled out on Tuesday in an event at the DePaul Center. The materials are accessible on the web at no charge through March 15 (username and password are both chicago77).
Sustainable Communities magazine. The premiere issue of a new magazine, Sustainable Communities, features CMAP and GO TO 2040. It calls our new Local Technical Assistance program "one of the most practical uses of the first round of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Sustainable Communities Planning Grants." A partial edition is available for free on-line, but note that it does not contain the pages that include CMAP. The full edition is available for a fee, and we'll have a lobby copy for you to read the next time you visit us.
Suburban Issues. CMAP Board Chairman Mayor Gerald Bennett of Palos Hills and Board member President Rick Reinbold of Richton Park talked about GO TO 2040 with Jeff Cohn, host of Comcast's Suburban Issues. See Mayor Bennett and President Reinbold in separate interviews on YouTube.
Sustainability funding for the arts. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) "Our Town" program will award up to 35 grants ranging from $25,000 to $250,000 for "creative placemaking projects that contribute toward the livability of communities and help transform them into lively, beautiful, and sustainable places with the arts at their core." Local government entities and non-profit design or cultural organizations in partnership are eligible. Statements of interest are due by March 1, 2011, and invitations to apply will issued on March 25, with a formal application deadline of April 25. Contact ot@arts.gov or 202-682-5091 for more information. NEA will hold a series of webinars for potential applicants. The National Association of Counties is also offering application assistance; contact Jared Lang (jlang@naco.org or 202-942-4224).
Workforce event. This past Tuesday, the Metropolitan Planning Council and Microsoft hosted "“How State and Local Policies Can Encourage Job Creation and Economic Growth.” My fellow speaker was Indiana commerce secretary Mitch Roob, and his department's short-term approach to business recruitment contrasted with the long-term GO TO 2040 approach to human capital. The attendees, who were largely workforce development practitioners from our state, expressed support for the plan's objectives, which they will also need to play a key role in implementing.
Blizzard of information. Lake County is innovating with its PASSAGE i-Phone application, which is now available free at the Apple App store. It allows users to report traffic incidents directly to the County's PASSAGE website, which offers real-time congestion information. During last week's storm, Lake County sent more than 34,000 user notifications, and the PASSAGE site got 20,000 hits (compared to about 6,600 for all of January).
A Positive Charge. This week, the City of Chicago announced it will use ARRA funds to install more than 280 charging stations for electric cars throughout the city and suburbs in 2011. Some of the stations will be used for car sharing programs like I-GO, which plans to offer a discount on electric vehicles in its fleet. The public charging stations will allow increased use of electric vehicles, which, as the Tribune points out, are a good choice for an urban environment like metropolitan Chicago, where average trips are under 40 miles -- well within the 100-mile range for most electric car batteries.
More CMAP in the news. Evanston Now wrote about last week's Policy Updates blog on shifts in population and household income in the region. CBS Chicago wrote about a potential water shortage of the Great Lakes and included information from work on Water 2050, the northeastern Illinois water supply/demand plan. Metra's new executive director Alex Clifford mentioned GO TO 2040 when interviewed by the Chicago Tribune.
CMAP Blogs
Policy Updates. This week we blogged about CMAP's federal and state agendas for 2011 to help implement GO TO 2040. The federal government must decide how to allocate billions in taxpayer dollars annually across a variety of different programs, services, and projects. It also must set priorities and develop criteria for how funding should flow through to the state, regional, and local levels. The state allocates nearly $50 billion per year across various program areas and plays a significant role in operating and maintaining the transportation system, promoting economic development, and maintaining and preserving our natural resources. In related news, the Bipartisan Policy Center released a new report exploring the link between transportation infrastructure investments and economic growth.
Soles and Spokes. CMAP’s bike-ped planning blog announced an upcoming APBP webinar on the current state of Complete Streets policies and implementation strategies. CMAP will host the webinar at our offices and there are still have a few spaces available. RSVP with John O’Neal at joneal@cmap.illinois.gov. We announced a second webinar in the series on community health and transportation planning, sponsored by the American Public Health Association. Finally, we wrote about the recent success of Seville, Spain, in promoting cycling as transportation.
Green Signals. CMAP’s transportation operations blog informed readers about an upcoming webinar on Advanced Access Management. The web briefing will cover many aspects of access management, including how to develop an access management plan or program and the roles of state DOTs, MPOs, and local governments.
Reminders
GO TO 2040 series at MPC: REGISTRATION CLOSED. After the weather prompted cancellation of last week's GO TO 2040 roundtable hosted by the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC), the series will instead kick off on February 18. "We Have a Plan. Who's With Us?" will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the MPC Conference Center 140 S. Dearborn, Suite 1400 Chicago, Illinois 60603. Registration is closed.
~*~
Subscribe to receive Weekly Updates via email. 
Blogs (Weekly Updates) 
