Best Practice High School is a recently opened small
school located in the heart of Chicago, just west of the
Loop. The Center for Neighborhood Technology
(CNT) was provided the opportunity to conduct an
abbreviated summit at Best Practice High School and
the students' voices were strong.
*
The students of
Best Practice are expert urban travelers, which made
the Connecting Communities Summit there an event
of fruitful ideas and enriching discussion. At Best
Practice High School, the decision-makers of tomor-
row have concerns and recommendations that they are
eager to share today.
The students at Best Practice High School come
from all over the city, but the majority in our group
was from the central neighborhoods of Chicago. The
diversity of the group reflected the diversity of the
locale the teenagers were predominantly black
(75%), a substantial minority (17%) were Hispanic,
and 8% were white. A quarter of the group was
female, and three-quarters were male. As recent
recipients of drivers' licenses and as regular CTA
commuters, the group had much to say about public
transit and roads.
The top destinations for the students at Best Practice
High School were downtown, shopping at the intersec-
tion of Pulaski and Congress, as well as the North
Riverside and Brickyard Malls. The students are also
going to work at various locations throughout the city.
Sports stadiums, such as the nearby United Center, as
well as restaurants, movies and concert venues are
also popular destinations. The surveys revealed that
congestion and job accessibility are the primary
concerns of the students. Safety in travel and the
ability to use multiple modes to get around are also
key concerns.
Best Practice High School Students:
Taking Steps in Transportation Reform
SPECIAL REPORT
ADDENDUM TO THE
Central Neighborhoods of Chicago
Connecting Communities Summit
Automobile use with other people and transit were the
two most frequently used modes of getting around by
the students. As transit users, the students at Best
Practice are on the move. Three-quarters of the group
took transit in the last month, and among those transit
users, the average number of transit trips was 28 trips
per month. Of the ten families in the group that have
children under the age of 14, in six families (60%)
children are driven to school, while in three families
(30%) children are bused to school and in two (20%),
children walk to school every day (total is over 100%
because one survey indicated multiple modes). Every
survey respondent has bus service accessible within
one mile of their home, while nearly every respondent
(92%) has train service available near their home. The
group cited their most frequent ways of getting around
as follows: 1) car, with others; 2) transit; 3) walking;
4) car, alone; and 5) biking.
Improvements in transit service are an important
priority for the group. There was consensus that bus
service needs to have greater frequency on the routes
that go down Ogden Avenue, Damen Avenue, and
Pulaski Avenue. Participants cited the need for transit
improvements as the primary way that they would
enhance travel in the region. Making improvements to
train service was discussed as one of the most exciting
things that the students gained from the session the
project to add a new Green Line stop at Damen
Avenue was proposed by several groups of partici-
pants. Adding new stops on both the Green Line and
the Blue Line were common suggestions, as was the
addition of more frequent service on the Metra line to
Glen Ellyn. One unique idea that came out of the
session was to have an express underground train
service going from the suburbs into the city.
*
At the invitation of Ms. Sonja Kosanovic, CNT conducted a mini-summit during class time on December 12, 2001. The
session consisted of a brief "visioning session" an abbreviated version of the "Transopoly" game, and surveys. Thirteen
students participated in the session.
