The Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) and King County Metro have released an update to rightsizeparking.org. This update uses new data collected over the past year at 75 multifamily properties around King County, making the parking use model more robust, supported by a count of actual parking use in the middle of the night. Now, along with all the features of the previous version, a user can vary the proposed multifamily housing development’s parking supply and see how that affects the... Read the rest of this entry »

CNT was delighted to participate again in the Chicago Community Trust’s On the Table on May 8th, 2018. Over lunch at CNT’s offices, we hosted a range of guests in a conversation about environmental justice. Attendees included chairs and co-chairs from the Robbins and Chatham RainReady community steering committees, students from a local high school, and members of the Elevated Chicago coalition. The topic was “Beyond Baby Boomers: Passing the Torch on Local Environmental Justice,” addressing... Read the rest of this entry »

I recently had the honor to sit down with Ben Brown from PlaceMakers to talk about Community Affordability in the PlaceMaker’s blog “PlaceShakers and Newsmakers”  CNT has had a long relationship with PlaceMakers, a planning and design firm that works in the United States and Canada.  Ben and I spoke about affordability and place, in advance of the Congress for New Urbanism 2018 Conference to be held May 15-19, 2018. Follows is the beginning of Part II of our conversation about... Read the rest of this entry »

I recently had the honor to sit down with Ben Brown from PlaceMakers to talk about Community Affordability in the PlaceMaker’s blog “PlaceShakers and Newsmakers”  CNT has had a long relationship with PlaceMakers, a planning and design firm that works in the United States and Canada.  Ben and I spoke about affordability and place, in advance of the Congress for New Urbanism 2018 Conference to be held May 15-19, 2018. You can read the entire discussion on PlaceMaker’s website Ben... Read the rest of this entry »

A big thank you to all the friends, donors, sponsors and partners who attended the Sustain-a-City Celebration on September 28th, CNT’s biggest event of the year. The Celebration highlighted CNT’s work, and raised nearly $100,000 for our efforts to help cities operate more sustainably and efficiently. Featured at the Celebration was CNT’s Urban Sustainability Tech Challenge, a five-month program that unlocks talent in our communities to connect entrepreneurs and community members to each... Read the rest of this entry »

The 51st Street Green Line Chicago Transit Authority station is bustling with activity.  Every Wednesday, Bronzeville community members come out in droves to visit Boxville Market at Calumet and 51st Avenues to buy vintage clothes, eat locally-made (and often locally-grown) food – tacos, jerk chicken, sweet potato fries-, listen to local DJs, and share space with one another. Across the street from Boxville is a community garden, which provides a sanctuary of green in the area.  There... Read the rest of this entry »

By Adam Hecktman, Microsoft You don’t have to be a technology expert, or even more than a casual observer of technology, to know that data is everywhere, impacting every field, every industry, and just about every aspect of life. The recent advances in cloud computing power and the proliferation of sensor technology have incredible potential to help humans in terms of what they are capable of. With the acceleration of the collection, storage, and analysis of data at unprecedented scale,... Read the rest of this entry »

The Chicago economy is continually launching new companies. Some spin off from older firms; others are start-ups nurtured by business incubators. One notable incubator is the Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago (ICNC), which has incubated thousands of new companies. Founded in 1967 ICNC is home to over 110 small companies at a time which are supported to grow, and then outgrow their ICNC space. ICNC is also launching The Hatchery, an incubator focused on food start-ups. The Hatchery will... Read the rest of this entry »

For almost 40 years, CNT has been a national leader in sustainable urban development. CNT’s signature efforts have advanced its commitment to improving urban communities and the quality of life of all their residents. CNT friends, partners and supporters plan to gather and celebrate CNT’s innovations in urban development on September 28th at our Sustain-a-City Celebration. A truly unique evening, this event  will showcase our Urban Sustainability Tech Challenge. CNT’s Tech Challenge... Read the rest of this entry »

There are over 950,000 more manufacturing jobs in the U.S. today than in 2010. This resurgence presents a major opportunity for communities. As a segment of manufacturers turns away from the inefficiencies of sprawling suburban industrial parks and re-onshores production from overseas locations there is growing demand for urban locations. But cities that want to take advantage of manufacturing’s return need to be fully prepared. An EcoDistrict approach to industrial revitalization can help keep... Read the rest of this entry »