Excellent Video showing an overview of what makes a green job.
Northwest Suburban Bike Plan
I have been tossing around the idea of developing a Northwest Suburban Bike plan that would help link the developed village downtown districts along the Metra Northwest line. I’m still a few years off of my masters project, but I’ve decided to start gathering information and build a foundation for my future project.
The ultimate goal is Chicago to Barrington, safely and efficiently. Along with providing an overall framework so villages can make bicycle infrastructure choices so that they link up with other villages efforts. Spend the money in the right place and encourage suburban connectivity.
Northwest Municipal Conference Bike plan
Southwest Suburban Mayors and Managers Bicycle Plan
Guide of Municipal Bike Planning from League of Illinois Bicyclists
Proposed CTA Fare Increases
People are up in arms over the proposed CTA fare increases. I think we to think about what we getting upset about. Here are a few bullet points to ponder.
- Not without its problems, mass transit in Chicago is still really convenient compared to a majority of areas in the United States. Visiting a friend in Sacramento, I found that the normal frequency for buses was on average 20 -30 mins. Visiting my parents in the suburbs from where I live in the city, costs me under 10 bucks and is very reliable.
- For the most part you can get anywhere in the city for under 5 bucks. Even with the fare increases, the mass transit in Chicago is a viable cost effective way to get around.
- Create fare increases that target one time users or tourists. Many people say that fare increases will create an undue burden on those who rely on it to get to work. If this is the case, don’t increase the fares on multi-day pass.
- Habitual users won’t be affected.
- More people who were originally cash users will now purchase multi-day passes.
- Multiday passes makes it easier for users to budget their money. Instead of paying per use, they know they have their transportation covered for the month on the 1st or whenever they buy it.
- CTA can leverage the up front money of a multiday pass to their advantage.
- Nothing is free, reduced fares for seniors, but no free rides. Let’s get ride of this well-intentioned but clearly unfeasible program
- In the same spirit of the last bullet point, a system costs money to run, in a tough economy running this system is even more difficult. Either we buck up and pay the fare increase or we lose service. I honestly do no believe we are being gouged by CTA, I believe we have been spoiled by an undervalued system for so many years and now we balk when its falling apart or they need fare increases to keep running.
From the few years I have spent in Chicago, I can say I have seen improvement and initiative out of the CTA. Rider information has become more accessible and transparent. The buses are now all tracked which helps with trip planning and more effective use of the system. Stations are being upgraded, lines have been improved. I would complain about fare increases if I didn’t see any of these changes.
The bottom line is the CTA is doing the best they can with limited resources, I will gladly give them an extra 50 cents to ensure continued improvement efforts.
Tags: budget, Chicago, CTA, fare hikes, Mass Transit, money, opinion
Comprehensive Planning for Native American Land Protection
I was listening to the radio a few days ago to a news story about a Federal Judge ruling on a decision to allow a pipeline through a Native American Reservation. A group of Sioux tribes were trying to stop a TransCanada gas pipe line from going through their land. The Federal Judge ruled against the tribes allow construction of the pipeline to continue. A brief mention of the story can be found here from the Grand Forks Herald.
This sparked my interest in how widespread comprehensive land use planning is used among Native American Tribes on their reservation. Why?
Well, I’m not a land use lawyer, I’m a planning student, but in a Land Use Law course I took, we learned about the case of Arlington Heights, IL vs MHDC. The case said that Arlington Heights violated the Fair Housing Act because it would not allow an affordable housing unit to be built. Arlington Hts defended that that specific type of use was not allowed in that location because the zoning code which has been in place long before the act did not allow it. The MHDC cried exclusionary zoning, Arlington Height said that discrimination wasn’t the intent of their zoning code. The lower courts agreed with the affordable housing developer, but when sent to the Supreme Court, the ruling ended in favor for Arlington Hts.
This gave me the idea that Native American tribes could use comprehensive planning as a way to protect future land use on the reservation from Federal incursion or use. I don’t know how land use law effects Native American reservations, but the case of Arlington Hts leads me to believe that a solid comprehensive plan can defend even federal acts for influencing land use decisions.
Pictures of our trip to San Francisco
San Francisco 2009
Pictures of our summer trip to San Francisco are posted to my Flickr , Enjoy!
Tags: San Francisco