The Obama Foundation has officially announced the Obama Presidential Library will be located on Chicago’s South Side. When the institution comes to Washington Park or Jackson Park, it will bring millions of visitors and potentially billions of dollars in investment to the neighborhoods surrounding the University of Chicago.  Regardless of which site is selected, the library and museum development will include public investment and private commitments to improve the standard of living for... Continue reading »

Environmentalism began when we were running from cities. We're learning that city sustainability is now key to a better environment, better communities and a better economy. Special thanks to the Nelson Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for inviting me to speak to a sold-out room for their Earth Day conference. We appreciated the opportunity to speak about the process of making cities resilient through economic development, building social capital, establishing clear... Continue reading »

States can learn a lot about what not to do by watching Illinois’ legislature scramble to fill fiscal deficits by pulling back on investments to fix crumbling roads, bridges and transit. Recently, the Illinois General Assembly trumpeted a somber but triumphant proclamation about a budget resolution passed but it was accompanied with a list of “cutbacks”— raids on other state funds collected for a wide range of purposes for the purposes of filling a fiscal hole. Fully half of the $1.3 billion... Continue reading »

Last week, over 65 people joined us at our office for a TOD Talk hosted by the Young Innovators, our associate board, and the Young Professionals in Transportation. The event featured a panel discussion on what can make transit-oriented development work for all ages. It featured expert panelists from three generations: Millennial Kyle Smith, CNT’s Economic Development Project Manager; Gen-Xer Andrew Vesselinovitch, Urban Designer and Project Manager at Ross Barney Architects... Continue reading »

CNT commends Blair Kamin for his excellent article on transit-oriented development (TOD) in Sunday’s Chicago Tribune. He focuses on the new apartment building at 1611 W. Division, across from the Milwaukee/Division Blue Line station, that does not include a parking garage. Kamin’s article does an excellent job of highlighting an issue that the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) has worked hard on advancing smart TOD. In 2013, CNT published a report on TOD in the... Continue reading »

CHICAGO – Even though gas prices are down, costs for transportation are still high. How much we spend is based on where we live, according to data gathered by the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) through the new version of its groundbreaking Housing and Transportation (H+T®) Affordability Index. The New York City region came in 1st, with the Chicago and Washington DC metro areas coming in at 2nd and 3rd respectively on the list for metropolitan areas of a million or... Continue reading »

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... Continue reading »

The Center for Neighborhood Technology today launched its 4th Annual Urban Sustainability Apps Competition with presenting sponsorMicrosoft. The CNT Apps Competition begins with a series of town hall meetings in several Chicago neighborhoods to reach non-developers and identify issues facing communities, and continues with technical training throughout the spring, provided by Microsoft. The competition culminates in a weekend event at Tech Nexus June 5-7, where teams create app... Continue reading »

Across the country, millions of dollars are spent every year repairing the damage caused by urban flooding – and it’s likely to keep getting worse. Heavy rain events are increasing, absorbent surfaces are lost to concrete and asphalt, and resource-strapped cities have fewer and fewer funds available for large stormwater infrastructure projects. Our latest report, A RainReady Nation, offers a suite of cost-effective solutions to keep homes and businesses dry. The Center for Neighborhood... Continue reading »

Chicago’s northern suburbs are falling short in efforts to capitalize on the economic growth potential of building mixed-income TOD, according to our latest report. The report, Quality of Life, (e)Quality of Place, wasreleased today by CNT and the nonprofit Open Communities. CTA and Metra stops anchor most north suburban downtowns. Quality of Life, (e)Quality of Place found that mixed-income housing in those downtowns can boost neighborhood property values,... Continue reading »