The 51st Street Green Line Chicago Transit Authority station is bustling with activity.  Every Wednesday, Bronzeville community members come out in droves to visit Boxville Market at Calumet and 51st Avenues to buy vintage clothes, eat locally-made (and often locally-grown) food – tacos, jerk chicken, sweet potato fries-, listen to local DJs, and share space with one another. Across the street from Boxville is a community garden, which provides a sanctuary of green in the area.  There... Continue reading »

This month, CNT was thrilled to provide its expertise on the topic of urban flooding and highlight its multi-partner work in Chatham and the Village of Midlothian to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) as it explores the issue of urban flooding nationwide.  Founded in 1863, NAS has served as a private, nonprofit organization providing leading research and guidance on issues of science and technology on a national level. The organization brings together experts from diverse fields to... Continue reading »

By Adam Hecktman, Microsoft You don’t have to be a technology expert, or even more than a casual observer of technology, to know that data is everywhere, impacting every field, every industry, and just about every aspect of life. The recent advances in cloud computing power and the proliferation of sensor technology have incredible potential to help humans in terms of what they are capable of. With the acceleration of the collection, storage, and analysis of data at unprecedented scale,... Continue reading »

The Chicago economy is continually launching new companies. Some spin off from older firms; others are start-ups nurtured by business incubators. One notable incubator is the Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago (ICNC), which has incubated thousands of new companies. Founded in 1967 ICNC is home to over 110 small companies at a time which are supported to grow, and then outgrow their ICNC space. ICNC is also launching The Hatchery, an incubator focused on food start-ups. The Hatchery will... Continue reading »

For almost 40 years, CNT has been a national leader in sustainable urban development. CNT’s signature efforts have advanced its commitment to improving urban communities and the quality of life of all their residents. CNT friends, partners and supporters plan to gather and celebrate CNT’s innovations in urban development on September 28th at our Sustain-a-City Celebration. A truly unique evening, this event  will showcase our Urban Sustainability Tech Challenge. CNT’s Tech Challenge... Continue reading »

This month Chicago will have visitors from a cohort of Australian public works professionals stopping by the city before heading onto the American Public Works Association 2017 Congress, the annual conference for members of the public works industry. The group of Australian professionals will participate in a series of tours throughout the city visiting government agencies, public works and non-profits to garner an understanding of Public Works in the Chicago region. Included in their tour... Continue reading »

The City of Chicago saw record rainfall in the Spring of 2017, and April ranked in the top ten warmest and wettest Aprils since records began in 1872.  Between January and July of this year, Cook County waterways saw nearly twice the number of combined sewer overflows that occurred between January and July of 2016. These rainfall records bear out the 2014 U.S National Climate Assessment  projection that the Midwest will face increasingly frequent and severe storms resulting in... Continue reading »

CNT's work in equipping communities to be resilient in the face of climate change has involved various approaches, including utilizing urban data and analytics, creating tools, pushing policy work, and working on the ground with communities and their members. CNT's latest tool, My RainReady, has incorporated a number of those methods to help communities and individuals become more climate resilient.  A virtual home assessment tool, My RainReady allows homeowners to learn about... Continue reading »

There are over 950,000 more manufacturing jobs in the U.S. today than in 2010. This resurgence presents a major opportunity for communities. As a segment of manufacturers turns away from the inefficiencies of sprawling suburban industrial parks and re-onshores production from overseas locations there is growing demand for urban locations. But cities that want to take advantage of manufacturing’s return need to be fully prepared. An EcoDistrict approach to industrial revitalization can help keep... Continue reading »

We’re delighted to announce that on June 13, 2017, CNT received the Green Ribbon Award presented by the Friends of the Chicago River for the RainReady Calumet Corridor Plan. The Friends of the Chicago River host the annual Chicago River Blue Awards to recognize the leading contributions in development, design, and implementation of programs that best exemplify efforts towards building healthier and more sustainable communities through clean water programs. CNT RainReady director Dawn... Continue reading »