First Off...

CMAP meetings. The CMAP Board will meet at 9:30 a.m. next Wednesday, June 13, 2012. The Regional Coordinating Committee will meet prior to the Board at 8:00 a.m. And the MPO Policy Committee will meet the following day at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 14.

Policy Updates. We wrote about the influence and value of parking in planning for livable communities, as described in detail by the CMAP report "Parking Strategies to Support Livable Communities," which was released in April. As one of the largest single land uses in municipalities' “footprints,” parking deserves attention for its influence on the character, form, function, and flow of our communities. We also featured ParkScore, a tool released by the Trust for Public Land that measures how well cities are meeting the need for parks.

Green Transit Plan. The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) has released the Chicago Regional Green Transit Plan, with support from CMAP, the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra, Pace, and the Illinois and Chicago Departments of Transportation. The plan quantifies the environmental benefits of the region’s public transit system and creates a roadmap for a more sustainable transit system in the future. The RTA estimated that transit in the region saves 6.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. Read more in this press release.

Other News and Announcements

LTA updates. On June 4, the Village of Orland Park Board of Trustees reviewed the final draft report for its water conservation program. Through the Local Technical Assistance (LTA) program, CMAP and the Village partnered to incorporate elements from the 2010 CMAP Model Water Use Conservation Ordinance into existing ordinances and regulations. The Village of Orland Park is one of the first northeastern Illinois communities to demonstrate leadership by considering the incorporation of water conservation ordinances and programs. CMAP is also working with the Bronzeville Alliance and Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) to create a retail development initiative for 43rd, 47th, and 51st Streets. A planning charrette for the project will be held June 16 from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the IIT Tower Auditorium (10 W. 35th Street, Chicago). CMAP is also working with the City of Berwyn to develop a comprehensive plan. An open house will be held June 27 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Berwyn Police Department (6401 W. 31st Street, Berwyn) for residents to review the draft plan. Visit the main LTA page for a new monthly program update on all ongoing projects and links to project webpages.

LTA in the news. The Forest Park Review mentioned the recently completed Homes for a Changing Region report, part of the LTA program in partnership with MPC and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus (MMC). The Daily Herald wrote about upcoming meetings being held for the next Homes report, which will focus on the five communities in the Northwest Suburban Housing Collaborative: Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Mount Prospect, Palatine, Rolling Meadows. Dates for upcoming Homes meetings can be found in the Events section of this newsletter. Oak Park Patch also covered a panel on parking from our May 24 Ideas Exchange event. The article quotes CMAP's Lindsay Banks. The Village of Lansing's Kristi DeLaurentiis wrote a Northwest Indiana Times editorial about a recent technical assistance and best practices workshop in which CMAP participated. The Times also had a story about the workshop, which was a follow-up to ones held last year for development of a Homes report for Lansing and neighboring south suburban Cook communities.

CMAQ in the news. The Northwest Herald wrote about a bicycle and pedestrian bridge to be built in Algonquin. The project is funded in part through CMAP's Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) program.

Bikeways in Chicago. The Bikes Belong Foundation launched its Green Lane Project to bring protected bikeways to six U.S. cities including Austin, Chicago, Memphis, Portland, Ore, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. Top transportation officials from each city, along with Federal Highway Administration leader Victor Mendez, attended the May 31 Chicago event held in support of the development of world-class bicycling facilities over the next two years. Read more in the Sacramento Bee and the Chicago Tribune.

New forest preserve. Kane County's forest preserves have increased to 20,000 total acres with the addition of land by the Dick Young Forest Preserve in Batavia thanks to an open space bond referendum approved by voters last year. Read more in the Daily Herald. This is a great step toward the GO TO 2040 target of preserving another 150,000 acres of public open space over the next 30 years.

Data Depot

Income and poverty. CMAP’s MetroPulse data portal tracks median household income and poverty level for the Chicago region. The complex relationship between these two indicators can also be explored at the state level via the website www.proximityone.com. In Illinois, for example, Cook (Chicago) and Tazewell (Peoria) counties share a comparable median household income (about $52,000 annually). By contrast, Cook County shows nearly twice the rate of households below the poverty level (15 percent) when compared to Tazewell County (8 percent).

Public expenditure data. In keeping with the GO TO 2040 recommendation to increase access to information, MetroPulse tracks the percentage of municipalities that post their public expenditure data online. Why only one data point? Because there has only been one municipal survey. Watch CMAP’s website for details on the 2012 Municipal Plans, Programs, and Operations Survey, which is about to begin this month. Learn about results of the previous survey in this Policy Update from March 2011.

CMAP Blogs

Soles and Spokes. CMAP’s bicycle and pedestrian planning blog featured the City of Evanston’s plan to install a protected bike lane or “cycle track.” We also announced the Village of Plainfield’s construction work to fill in a gap in its bikeway network. Finally, we highlighted the Chicago City Council approval of the City’s bike sharing program.

Green Signals. CMAP’s transportation operations blog highlighted our new 2011 congestion scans for expressway segments in northeastern Illinois. The blog also informed readers of the traffic incident management public outreach toolkit webinar and why transportation agencies adopt ITS webinar.

Reminders

LTA 2012 call for projects. For the second year, CMAP is making staff resources and grants available for community-based projects through the GO TO 2040 Local Technical Assistance (LTA) program. Municipalities, counties, multijurisdictional groups, or nongovernmental organizations (in partnership with local government) are encouraged to apply for CMAP staff assistance by responding to the new LTA 2012 Call for Projects. Applications are due by Wednesday, August 1, 2012. For more information, please contact Pete Saunders (psaunders@cmap.illinois.gov or 312-386-8654). Applicants that would prefer to receive grant funds should consider applying for funding through CMAP's Community Planning program -- see http://rtachicago.com/community-planning/community-planning.html for more details.

Streets for Cycling Plan 2020 public meetings. CDOT is holding open houses and webinars throughout Chicago to get input on a draft network for the Streets for Cycling Plan 2020. The plan will identify a network of bicycling facilities that will make bike trips safe and comfortable for Chicagoans. For information and webinar reservations, visit this CDOT web page.

FLIP applications. Applications are now available for our Future Leaders in Planning (FLIP) program. Through the program, high school students from throughout the region meet one Saturday per month to learn about the issues that shape our region’s economy and quality of life. Students who will be sophomores, juniors, or seniors in the 2012-13 school year are eligible. For more information, contact Ricardo Lopez (rlopez@cmap.illinois.gov or 312-386-8766). See a slideshow of the 2011-12 FLIP students in action.

Events