Archive for the 'General News' Category
Thursday, October 1st, 2009
Cited a “top active thinker of today”, CNT President Scott Bernstein landed on Planetizen’s recent “crowd sourcing experiment” to identify the top 100 urban thinkers of all time. Among an impressive list of academics, civic leaders, authors and politicians, Scott was ranked #27 by voters.
Among Scott’s achievements, one of the most significant right now is his contributions in coining the term “location efficiency”, which is becoming more widely known and used to draw the connection between where we live and how much we spend on transportation.
Google the term “location efficiency”. The first result links to the Location Efficient Mortgage (LEM), developed by CNT, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Surface Transportation Policy Project in 1995. LEM’s recognize the savings available to people who live in location efficient communities.
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Thursday, August 27th, 2009
The Center for Transit-Oriented Development is celebrating its fifth year, and has published a brochure detailing our projects, partnerships and intellectual capital. Download it here to find out what we do and how our national experience might be able to leverage your efforts, with the end goal of promoting sustainability, livability and affordability. The Center for Transit-Oriented Development is a partnership of Reconnecting America, CNT and Strategic Economics. Read more about CTOD on our site.
Also, check out the interactive map on CTOD’s projects across the country on Reconnecting America’s site.
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Thursday, August 20th, 2009
Today, Governor Patrick Quinn announced his appointment of Jacky Grimshaw, the Center for Neighborhood Technology’s Vice-President of Policy, to the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Board.Jacky brings 30 years of professional experience working on transportation and community development issues in Chicago and across the country. Jacky recognizes the importance of mass transportation systems to our urban environment. “A high-quality public transit system is vital to our region’s economic growth. Just as important, an efficient mass transportation system can significantly lower transportation costs for households at the same time that it improves the environment.”
“We are pleased that the Governor has selected a transportation leader like Jacky to serve on the CTA board,“ said Kathryn Tholin, CNT’s CEO. “Jacky is a consummate professional who understands the value of a strong CTA and will work tirelessly on its behalf.” Read more »
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Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
CNT was recognized as one of only eight organizations from around the world to receive the prestigious John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. CNT has pioneered new approaches to urban problems that use resources more efficiently, reduce costs for households and communities, and improve the environment. The award recognizes organizations that are “highly creative and effective, have made an extraordinary impact in their fields and are helping to address some of the world’s most challenging problems.”
“The MacArthur Foundation has a long history of supporting organizations around the world like these that demonstrate the creativity, drive, and vision to make the world more just and peaceful,” said MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton. “These organizations may be small but their impact is tremendous. From protecting human rights to improving urban neighborhoods to conserving biodiversity, they are blazing new paths and finding fresh solutions to some of our most difficult challenges.”
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Friday, April 10th, 2009
Two of CNT’s leaders are being recognized this Spring for their work in changing the urban landscape in Chicago and around the world.
CNT’s President and Founder Scott Bernstein is being recognized as Chicago region’s public interest hero for making a significant positive change to the region over the last 30 years. On May 1, 2009, Scott will receive a “BPI’s 40 Who’ve Made a Difference Award.” Scott has been a true champion of cities. His vision that “place matters” has made change happen, from the formation of the city of Chicago’s energy code, to piloting Location Efficient Mortgages, to putting forth an urban agenda that stresses that housing and transportation affordability as the key to developing sustainable and livable cities. From his early days as an organizer on Chicago’s west side to testifying in front of Congressional committees, Scott has worked to improve the quality of life for all urban dwellers. For over 30 years, Scott has led the charge in demonstrating that cities and their people are assets in addressing economic and environmental challenges.
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Wednesday, April 8th, 2009
The Illinois Smart Grid Initiative (ISGI)’s new report, “Empowering Consumers through a Modern Electric Grid”, explores the potential benefits of a modernized electric grid and maps a policy path for achieving those benefits for consumers and the economy. At a time when both President Obama’s Administration and Congress have prioritized electric grid modernization and the jobs potential it holds, Illinois is well positioned to become the national leader in the adoption of a truly consumer-focused smart grid.
Illinois residents face $6-11 billion annually in costs related to power outages and power disruptions, with many communities experiencing outage levels far above the national average. The ISGI Report outlines how a smart grid can fundamentally improve reliability and efficiency, integrate renewable energy on the local level, and empower consumers to take charge of and reduce their electricity bills–while saving energy and reducing carbon emissions.
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Posted in Energy, General News, Illinois Smart Grid Initiative | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
Their proposal to increase transit ridership and revenue in the Chicago region by implementing a transit pass program earned CNT interns, Olympia Moy and Will Glassberg, “runner-ups” in Chicagoland Chamber’s contest to generate ideas for how to achieve a billion transit rides a year in the Chicago region.
The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce’s InnovateNow initiative, in partnership with InnoCentive, has chosen the winners of a global open-innovation challenge aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions released by automobiles by increasing local transit ridership to 1 billion rides a year. The challenge generated more than 125 proposals from locations as far away as Kenya, Australia and Japan.
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Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
Today and tomorrow, the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will listen to Secretary of Transportation and Secretary of HUD, Ray LaHood and Shaun Donovan, respectively, as well as a panel of experts, including Congress for the New Urbanism President, John Norquist, explain the importance of transit oriented development and green building practices in creating more affordable and livable communities.
Listen to the webcast, Livable Communities, Transit Oriented Development, and Incorporating Green Building Practices into Federal Housing and Transportation Policy at 1:00 PM CST today (Secretaries LaHood and Donovan) and tomorrow’s (panel of experts) at 9:00 AM CST.
More information:
Secretary Donovan’s testimony and HUD Press Release.
HUD and DOT Partnership: Sustainable Communities Press Release
Posted in General News, Location efficiency | 2 Comments »
Friday, March 13th, 2009
On Wednesday evening, along with other three journalists who, like their predecessor Studs Terkel, “go the extra mile to report news”, Community Media Workshop Founder and Director, Thom Clark, was honored with a 2009 Studs Terkel Award. Thom founded the Community Media Workshop to provide communications coaching to grassroots groups, arts organizations, and other nonprofits to diversify the voices in the news, on the Web, and other public forums.
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Thursday, January 22nd, 2009
CNT was thrilled to see Barack Obama, a Chicago community organizer and former CNT Board member, take the Presidential Oath of Office on Tuesday. As the first President since Theodore Roosevelt grounded in urban living, we look forward to a new direction in Federal policy that moves our country in a sustainable direction that both improves the economy for everyone and protects the environment.
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