Center for Neighborhood Technology

Help Beautify a Chicago Neighborhood

If you’ve recently visited the neighborhood of Logan Square and gotten off at the Logan Square CTA stop, you’ve probably noticed something seemingly uncommon amongst the hardness of the Chicago backdrop: a lush native prairie garden.

In 2005 Logan Square Walks, which CNT helped start, chose an abandoned site located adjacent to the Logan Square el stop to design a garden of prairie plants, grasses and shrubs. The result is a natural oasis for pedestrians, cyclists, public transit users and residents alike.

The next step is to add a seating area for visitors to relax and enjoy the garden. They are currently accepting secure, online donations to enable these plans.

The last Wednesday of every month, Logan Square Walks meets at the Paseo Garden for a “Wednesday Stroll”, in which they explore on foot the hidden, not-so-hidden and simply overlooked corners of their community. For more information, email Ben Helphand at ben@cnt.org.

To check out the Paseo Prairie Garden, take the blue line to the Logan Square stop. It’s at the west end of Logan Boulevard, within sight of the Illinois Centennial Monument. Take a stroll through the garden and enjoy the serenity that some dedicated individuals are working to make more common throughout our city!

We Won the Bicycle Commuter Challenge!

For the third year in a row, CNT won in our division of the 2006 Bicycle Commuter Challenge, “Business/Non-profit 24-99 employees”. The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation put on its 13th annual challenge and set record numbers in organizations participating (130) and participants (1600). CNT dominated the other organizations in our category with a 70.83% participation rate.

That high participation rate is partly due to the fact that biking to work is something CNT promotes all year round. As part of our 2000 Green Building renovation, CNT provides enough safe bike storage for 38% of our employees to bike to work year-round, while an onsite shower facility makes the choice even more appealing.

Only 7-10% of regular bicyclists use their bike to commute to their jobs, according to the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation. The Challenge was part of Bike to Work Week - June 10 thru 16 - in an effort to make biking to work another viable - not to mention healthy - form of transportation, and as a means to alleviate Chicagoland’s gridlocked weekday commutes.

Congratulations to all the other winners as well as all the participants, as we work to make Chicago a more bike-friendly city, as well as promote alternative transportation choices that will benefit our health and help to build sustainable urban communities.

Watch for us next year in the Challenge!

CNT Housing + Transportation Event a Success

**UPDATE: New Crain’s Chicago Business article covering the Affordability Index**

Over 150 regional leaders gathered on June 29 for the Housing + Transportation: Moving the Region Toward Greater Affordability forum to discuss how housing and transportation affect the overall affordability of the Chicago region. The forum was co-sponsored by CNT and the Chicago Rehab Network. CNT presented new research about the relationship between housing and transportation costs, including a new tool called the Affordability Index to quantify these.

John McCarron, a contributing writer at the Chicago Tribune, led a great discussion of the challenges and opportunities our region has available for achieving affordability for all. Check out his editorial published the day after the event. And Representative Julie Hamos had some thoughtful insights on how we can better frame the issues of housing and transportation affordability with respect to policy making.

We’ve published our Power Point presentation given at the fourm as well as the Affordability Index brief, published by the Brookings Institution Urban Markets Initiative. Also, the Chicago Rehab Network has some great information on housing, including their fact book.

Thanks to everyone who made it out. And very special thanks to the Fannie Mae Foundation for their wonderful accomodations. If you missed it and would like more information from the forum and follow-up activities, contact Annette Stahelin.

Stay tuned for our next event. We’ll keep you updated.