Our recent report The Prevalence and Cost of Urban Flooding was a game changer in our efforts to keep homes and businesses dry and increase community resiliency in the face of increasingly severe rainstorms. We set out to pinpoint where exactly urban flooding was happening, and to our surprise we found that the majority of flood damage occurs outsideof designated floodplains. Because most flood relief programs focus on people who live within floodplains, we discovered... Read the rest of this entry »

The November 4 Illinois gubernatorial election is just around the corner. While there are many important topics being debated, we’re hearing next to nothing about funding for improved and expanded public transportation. For CNT, our Transit Future campaign, and the nearly half a million Cook County residents stranded in transit deserts, this is a critical issue. Our Transit Future partner organization, Active Transportation Alliance, even went as far as to offer ... Read the rest of this entry »

I recently read the U.S. PIRG Education Fund’s excellent new report,Highway Boondoggles: Wasted Money and America’s Transportation Future. I couldn’t help thinking about the decision(s) looming in CNT’s backyard about the proposed Illiana Expressway. Highway Boondoggles focuses on the national and local mismanagement of funding allocated to highway construction projects and the negative economic, social, and environmental consequences that such boondoggles might have. The report reminds... Read the rest of this entry »