First Off...

Congestion pricing campaign. Last week the Elgin Courier-News published a CMAP letter about the importance of implementing congestion pricing to manage traffic for faster, reliable travel times on five projects of the Illinois Tollway and Illinois Department of Transportation, as described at www.cmap.illinois.gov/congestion-pricing. "ExpressLanes" opened this week on 11 miles of I-110 in Los Angeles County, the latest example updated on our U.S. map of congestion pricing projects. To support congestion pricing in our region, please contact CMAP principal planner Erin Aleman (312-386-8816 or ealeman@cmap.illinois.gov).

Policy Updates. We described a manufacturing conference hosted by Crain's Chicago Business, which highlighted many of the same regional issues that will be addressed in our advanced manufacturing drill-down report to be released in early 2013. We also covered the Forest Preserve District of Cook County's recently released Land Acquisition Plan.

Staff progress report. The first-quarter progress report (July through September) based on CMAP's FY13 work plan is now on-line.
 
 

Other News and Announcements

LTA in the news. Chicagoist wrote about plans for a "green belt" strongly focused on urban agriculture in the Englewood neighborhood. As detailed in last week's Grist article, this is a component of the Green Healthy Neighborhoods land use plan under development through CMAP's Local Technical Assistance (LTA) program in partnership with the City of Chicago, LISC/Chicago, Teamwork Englewood, and the Washington Park Consortium. The Journal & Topics Newspaper also wrote about a series of ongoing and recently announced LTA projects in the northwest suburbs, including projects in Des Plaines, Prospect Heights, Rosemont, Niles, and communities in the Northwest Suburban Housing Collaborative.

CTA budget. The Chicago Transit Authority will host two meetings on December 10 and 17 to solicit public comments on its recently released draft budget for 2013.

Tollway on Twitter. Yesterday, the Tollway launched Twitter accounts for the Tri-State (I-94/I-294/I-80, @94_294_Tollway), the Jane Addams (I-90, @I_90_Tollway), the Reagan Memorial (I-88, @I_88_Tollway), and the Veterans Memorial (I-355, @I_355_Tollway) -- to provide drivers with up-to-date traffic information. Read more in the Chicago Tribune.

Foreclosures to rentals. The Trib covered a trend of companies purchasing and rehabbing foreclosed properties for rental. CMAP's Drew Williams-Clark is quoted in the article.

Sustainability forum. On December 12 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., the University of Chicago's Graham School and the Delta Institute will co-host a forum, "Supplying Sustainability: Engaging Companies to Realize Benefits," at the Gleacher Center (450 N. Cityfront Plaza Drive, Chicago). 
 

CMAP Blogs

Soles and Spokes.This week, CMAP’s bike-ped planning blog featured a new report, “Are We There Yet? Creating Complete Communities for 21st Century America,” which tracks progress of U.S. regions in implementing complete streets policies and programs.
 

Reminders

EI2 rebates. Energy Impact Illinois (EI2) is offering rebates up to $1750 (an estimated 70-percent cost savings) for upgrades you can make to improve the comfort of your home. For more information, contact Emily Plagman at eplagman@cmap.illinois.gov. To see if you qualify for the rebate, please call 1-855-9-IMPACT.

ArcView workshops. CMAP periodically offers a Two-Day Basic ArcView 10 Workshop, and dates are set for January 9 to 10, February 13 to 14, and March 27 to 28. Attendance at each workshop is limited to five people, so register early. The cost is $350. To register, please contact Jan Drennan (jdrennan@cmap.illinois.gov).

Events

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UIC Urban Forum
December 6, 2012
UIC Forum: 725 W. Roosevelt Road, Chicago
Hosted by the University of Illinois at Chicago
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