News for June, 2012
Friday, June 29th, 2012
CNT Energy’s Energy Savers program, a partnership with Community Investment Corporation, recently won a 2012 Vision Award (in the Program category) from the Urban Land Institute. The ULI award “honors projects and programs that use creative development practices, inventive partnerships or sharing of resources, imaginative problem solving, or visionary ideas contributing to the growth of vibrant communities.”
The Energy Savers program helps building owners reduce costs by improving energy efficiency, helping to find the best energy-saving investments for building owners. Every step of the way, CNT Energy’s Energy Savers assists by finding cost-effective energy saving investments, obtaining low cost financing, overseeing construction, and following up to ensure savings. Read more »
Posted in Energy, Featured Portfolio News | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 27th, 2012
In mid-May, CNT’s Ryan Wilson, Stormwater Program Manager, and Hal Sprague, Water Policy Manager, traveled to Toledo, OH and Detroit, MI, as part of the Livability Solutions coalition. The pair provided targeted technical assistance on the use of CNT’s Green Infrastructure planning tools—the Green Values Stormwater Toolbox, the Green Infrastructure Benefits Guide, and the Green Infrastructure Portfolio Standard.
CNT’s two community two partners—the Toledo-Lucas County Sustainability Commission (TLCSC) and Detroit’s Lower Eastside Action Plan (LEAP)—worked closely with the CNT Water team to impart an understanding of the unique regulatory and development challenges each city must overcome before implementing stormwater green infrastructure. The resultant workshops, tours, meetings and other interactions with local stakeholders laid the groundwork for a successful project partnership. The lessons learned in Toledo and Detroit will inform CNT’s recently launched “Smart Water for Smart Regions” initiative for the Great Lakes states. Read more »
Posted in Featured Portfolio News, Natural Resources | No Comments »
Monday, June 25th, 2012
The current transportation authorization expires next Saturday, June 30. The original bill, which expired nearly 1,000 days ago, has already been renewed 9 times. In an effort to create a bill with majority support and to avoid the 10th renewal of the bill, the Senate created a bipartisan bill, co-sponsored by Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Jim Inhofe (R-OK). MAP-21 was passed with support from Democrats and Republicans from every region of the country, not an easy task to accomplish, but the House is preventing further advancement by pushing their radical agenda onto the Senate’s bill.
In an effort to speed up projects and cut any red tape, MAP-21 lays out reforms for project reviews and the delivery processes. These reforms still allow taxpayers the ability to play a role in projects that will influence their community and health. The House, however, has different ideas. They have proposed project streamlining, which eliminates the rights of local citizens and elected officials to be involved in shaping transportation projects.
MAP-21 consolidates small programs like Transportation Enhancement (TE) and Safe Routes to School into a single program that provides funding to local communities for projects to improve safety, revitalize communities, and improve the environment. This program allows decisions over local issues to be made locally, by people that know them best. The House, however, wants to prevent local input by eliminating these programs all together, which puts the safety of America’s roadways at risk.
In today’s economy when the unemployment rate is 8.2%, job creation is on the mind of every American. Some members of the House want to cut the funding measures for job creation laid out in MAP-21. This would reduce the projected 3 million jobs by an unthinkable 500,000, and shows the blatant disregard for Americans’ well-beings.
Members of the House are intent on changing the Senate’s bill, but their bill never made it to the floor for a vote, and it failed to dedicate any money to road and bridge repair. The Senate’s bill, however, increases funding for these repairs above even what the current law has allotted.
As if this was not enough, the House is pushing to add the Keystone XL pipeline project to the bill, a measure that will surely prevent its implementation. President Obama has previously stated that he will veto any bill with the Keystone XL pipeline project, so the proposed addition would serve only to cripple any attempt at passing a new transportation bill.
MAP-21 is the clearest path forward and offers the best chance at a bi-partisan supported bill. Without a committee consensus, the threat of shut down becomes increasingly possible. The continued failure to compromise and pass a bi-partisan supported bill puts the creation of millions of jobs and the safety of our roads, bridges, and transit systems in jeopardy.
I urge you to ask your Representatives to talk to members of the Transportation Conference Committee. Tell Conferees to stop trying to compromise the integrity of the Senate’s bi-partisan supported bill. Remind your members of Congress that the Conference Committee should be focusing on the job creation and long-term economic benefits for their constituents, rather than on their political careers and the upcoming election. And urge your Senators and Representatives to support MAP-21.
Posted in Advocacy, Going Places, National, Policy, Staff Blog, Transit Funding, Transit Policy | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 13th, 2012
Chicago’s Bike to Work Week is now in full swing and tensions are running high as organizations across the city compete in the annual Bike Commuter Challenge. The challenge, which runs from June 9-15, is sponsored by the Active Transportation Alliance, as a way to encourage Chicagoans to embrace transportation awareness and enjoy the city from a bike’s eye view.
CNT employees have demonstrated our commitment to environmentally sustainable transit by dominating the competition for the past eight years. Our top competitors this year in the division for Businesses and Non-Profit Organizations with between 100 and 499 employees are WBEZ and Old Town School of Folk Music. WBEZ placed first in 2009 and Old Town took the crown in 2010. CNT is a relative newcomer to this large division, and we are continuing our legacy of unparalleled bike riding amongst these larger competitors.
The "Weavers" - CNT's unofficial team name in honor of the former weaving factory we renovated into a LEED-certified Platinum building, plans to dominate Bike to Work Week once again this year!
An intimidating 92 percent of CNT employees participated last year; WBEZ (second place) and Old Town (third place) could only convince 39 and 32 percent of their employees, respectively, to ride their bikes to work. In anticipation of the competition, Jerome McDonnell of WBEZ’s “Worldview” invited Sarah Dandelles of Old Town and Kathryn Eggers and Team Captain Andrew Kinaci of CNT into his studio on June 7 as part of an investigative mission to discover the secret behind CNT’s continuous success.
How does CNT prepare for Bike to Work Week? With a presentation on bike safety and gear from Alex Wilson of West Town Bikes, of course. From 2010 BTWW.
Eggers explained that, since CNT’s mission is promoting urban sustainability, staff members regularly commute via bike and public transportation. Bike to Work Week is just a chance for us to show off our alternative transportation skills. While WBEZ needs an organized competition to convince 39 percent of employees to break out their bikes, Eggers estimated that “we have close to 39 percent of our staff that bike to work on a regular beautiful summer week.”
In-house bike racks at CNT keep staff biking all year long!
When Bike to Work Week rolls around, our enthusiasm for biking only increases; so great is our excitement that announcements about the challenge are made months in advance. Positive reinforcement for biking is constant: internal competitions award staff with various incentive prizes for categories such as longest commute and most hours logged, and staff provide daily breakfast treats for bikers.
CNT staff offer one another support during Bike to Work Week.
Fresh breakfast awaits those who bike into CNT each morning during Bike to Work Week
Inter-staff bike sharing, combined with loaner bikes from other staff members and the office Dahon folding bike, ensures that everyone has access to a ride. And those who are not able to take their entire commute on bike still ride partway, completing the rest of their trip on public transit.
Staff without bikes make use of CNT's loaner bikes like this Dahon during Bike to Work Week, often leading to the purchase of their own bike!
I, personally, am happily participating in the challenge. Yesterday I rode from my home in Hyde Park to the CTA Green Line/Garfield station. I have been a supporter of sustainable commuting for more than 20 years, and I, as well as other CNT employees, embrace the opportunity provided by Bike to Work Week to set an example for other Chicago commuters.
You can catch me in my neighborhood of Hyde Park during Bike to Work Week!
Come Friday evening, we at CNT will hang up our helmets, lock up our bikes, and celebrate our ninth victory in style. Perhaps the folks at WBEZ and Old Town will stop by so that we can all relax together after a hard week of biking and promoting alternative transportation!
Though we promote the power of two wheels all year long at CNT, Bike to Work Week is our favorite week to celebrate the bicycle as a form of transportation.
Does your company participate in Bike to Work Week? Do you normally bike to work? If not, what keeps you from doing so? If yes, what motivates you?
Posted in Advocacy, Chicago, Going Places, Staff Blog | 1 Comment »
Friday, June 1st, 2012
For sixty years the 1.5-mile stretch on Lake St. between Ashland and Clinton has been a public transit dead zone. Buses ran only on surrounding streets and the original station at Morgan was demolished in 1948. This transit isolation was frustrating to local residents who could not efficiently access this portion of the West Loop, and development suffered as a result. Affordable real estate eventually attracted new businesses, restaurants, and residential developers, but lack of easy transit access still prevented this district from reaching its full economic potential.
In 2002, the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) investigated the feasibility of constructing a new infill station to boost train ridership and encourage economic growth along the Lake and South Side branches of the Green Line. Morgan Station, with its recent influx of residential and commercial development, was chosen as the optimal station location. The 2006 construction of the Pink Line, which will also be serviced by the new station, was also a consideration in the final decision.
Morgan Station. Photo by Nicole Gotthelf
The opening of Morgan Station is evidence of Chicago’s ongoing commitment to using transit-oriented development (TOD) to boost the local economy. Just last month, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) cut the ribbon at the much-needed Yellow Line Oakton Street Station in Skokie. In CNT’s report, Prospering in Place (PIP), Skokie is identified as one the 15 largest employment centers in metropolitan Chicago; prior the opening of the Oakton stop, however, many of Skokie’s 11,423 workers could not access their jobs via public transportation. Employees at the Illinois Science and Technology Park, which opened as a science and research facility in 2005, had to take a shuttle from the Dempster Street CTA station to the Park as part of their daily public transit commute. Now, these same employees exit at the Oakton Station, conveniently located almost across the street from the Park. Reducing travel time to this major employment center will attract more employees to this northern suburb, encourage development, and increase land values, all of which will contribute to the region’s prosperity.
The Oakton-Skokie Station; photo by Flickr user Zol87
The Cermak Road Green Line Station, planned to open in July 2014, promises to be equally beneficial. The new station will close a two-mile gap between Roosevelt Road and 35th/Bronzeville Stations on the Green Line, and will bring Chicagoans directly to the underutilized neighborhoods of the Near South and Motor Row and within easy walking distance of McCormick Place. Motor Row was designated as an entertainment district in 2011, and a commercial center that will include theaters, restaurants and hotels is already in the drafting stages. By coordinating development with transit infrastructure, the city will provide the area with a solid foundation for increased growth.
From "Transit Friendly Development Guide: Guide to Four Station Areas" a publication based on a study by City of Chicago Department of Zoning and Land Use Planning and Department of Transportation, CTA, RTA.
These stations – Morgan, Oakton, and Cermak – are important steps in the creation of a regional TOD network, with increased employment, public transit, and community connection. I hope to see more such projects implemented in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs, as officials prepare for the region’s sustainable future.
Posted in Chicago, Economic Development, Going Places, Staff Blog, Transit Expansion | No Comments »
