Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) is an important tool to build resilience to climate change but needs community support to be effective. In late February, as part of CNT’s continued work to examine the effect of GSI on property values, I joined Leslé Honoré, Managing Director of Strategy and Communications, to discuss this topic with the community of Gentilly in New Orleans. In partnership with Father Tony Ricard and St. Gabriel the Archangel Church, we had the incredible... Continue reading »

Decisions by transportation agencies have often harmed communities that have not been in positions to advocate for themselves or contribute to decision making. Increasingly, the leaders and staff of transportation agencies recognize this problem and are looking for approaches to improve equity in their transportation decisions. We often hear them ask: “We recognize the need to commit to equity. BUT HOW?” While there is more than one answer to this question, one approach has proven to deliver... Continue reading »

Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO), an environmental justice (EJ) organization based in the Little Village neighborhood, and Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT), a research and data analytic planning organization in Chicago, are creating a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) 101 Toolkit for EJ organizations to help them conduct basic mapping and analysis. Throughout toolkit development, the Milwaukee-based EJ organization Milwaukee Water Commons (MWC) is testing to... Continue reading »

Decisions in the transportation field have often harmed Black and brown communities: for example, freeway construction destroying Black and brown neighborhoods, federal funding policies for public transit that favor rail expansion to affluent suburban communities rather than urban transit service improvements, land use decisions that focus on polluting truck traffic in communities of color, and inequitable traffic law enforcement. To advance equity, we need to push transportation decisions... Continue reading »

Nearly a month into my work at Center for Neighborhood Technology, I already sense the power of community-based partnerships among organizations in Chicago. I am constantly inspired by not only these connections but also my brilliant coworkers. Whether in the office or working remotely, daily critically-thought conversations and operations surrounding justice and equity are held. As Latinx myself, I am increasingly conscious of the spaces I am in. In this space, I look around and see people of... Continue reading »

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill has been passed by the Senate. That’s an excellent start in addressing our long-neglected physical infrastructure. And now the bill goes back to the House of Representatives for concurrence. In the regular order of business, the House would negotiate and then concur with amendments made in the Senate. But this bipartisan deal did not follow the normal process, essentially negating the ability of House members to negotiate. This is... Continue reading »

The Urban Flooding Baseline Project seeks to clearly define the problem of urban flooding in the Calumet region using available quantitative data sources and first-hand pictorial data from residents to improve flood mitigation plans. At the end of July, we completed the Pilot and Phase 1 of the resident data collection. Each resident data collection leader is assigned a 1.5 mile x 1.5 mile region in the communities for Dolton, Dixmoor, Harvey, Markham, Phoenix, Posen, or Riverdale and is... Continue reading »

  Public transportation is a climate solution, and CNT’s recent report for the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) shows what an important role it plays in controlling emissions nationwide. Public transit in the U.S. saved 63 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMT CO2e) emissions in 2018—the equivalent of taking 16 coal power plants offline for a year. The new report, TCRP Research Report 226: An Update on Public Transportation's Impacts on Greenhouse Gas... Continue reading »

Coming in the door, I thought the work done by the Center for Neighborhood Technology was outside the spaces I’d worked in over the last decade of my career.  For the most part, my work has focused on providing resources to minority and women owned business owners in marginalized communities.  I’ve always considered myself to be an aware and ethnocentric person and my previous jobs reflected that to some degree. The term “marginalized” doesn’t just speak to the economic resources... Continue reading »

It was raining – great for the new rain garden, but not so great for a community gardening day. Would anyone come? Hopeful, we set up the tents and laid out the sandwiches, and parents and youth started arriving a little after noon.   "We were so thrilled that families and volunteers showed up, despite the morning rain! It was truly a great opportunity to bond with the community organizations that supported these efforts and the tenants and community members that will... Continue reading »