CNT is excited to release our Urban Opportunity Agenda today. This new framework for economic development turns the traditional job creation model on its head, generating economic growth from the ground up by systemically reducing the cost of living and doing business in a place. In communities across the country, high poverty rates, stagnant wages, and the rising cost of living are dragging down local economies. In contrast, new efficiencies and targeted investments can provide a win-win,... Continue reading »

California communities now have a tool to help them design and site buildings that promote less driving, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and greater affordability. GreenTRIP Connect, conceptualized by TransForm and developed by CNT, quantifies how much space and resources can be saved by using GreenTRIP strategies like building near transit, right-sized parking, transit passes, and access to car and bike share.     GreenTRIP Connect lets users enter the location of a... Continue reading »

The Center for Neighborhood Technology Offers New Strategies for Revitalizing Chicago’s Industrial Sector This election cycle, the dearth of American manufacturing jobs has taken a central role in the debate about the shrinking American middle class. With cheap labor abroad and the seemingly unstoppable march of automation, can manufacturing jobs ever return to American cities? Today, the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) unveiled a new strategy for revitalizing Chicago’s Central... Continue reading »

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.—The Center for Neighborhood Technology’s RainReady program, based in Chicago, received national recognition for its new and unique approach to address the front lines of floodplain management. The Association of State Floodplain Managers, the world's leading voice for sound floodplain management, science and policy, presented RainReady with its 2016 James Lee Witt Local Award for Excellence in Floodplain Management June 23 during its national conference in Grand Rapids,... Continue reading »

After 11 years as CNT’s CEO, I’m stepping down this week. It’s been a remarkable journey. In 1978, I was a recent college graduate looking for a way to reinvent cities. I was fortunate to  discover Scott Bernstein, only a few years older, who was just founding a new organization aimed at promoting neighborhood innovation and empowerment. I came on board. Remarkably, CNT’s core DNA was established at that early date and has continued to drive the organization for 38 years. To pursue... Continue reading »

Center for Neighborhood Technology Holds Fifth Annual Urban Sustainability Apps Competition High-profile incubators like 1871 may be the heart of Chicago’s tech scene, but the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) thinks that tech entrepreneurship can play a big role in revitalizing Chicago neighborhoods that sorely need new investment. This month, CNT held its fifth annual Urban Sustainability Apps Competition to connect coders and developers with idea leaders from a diverse array of... Continue reading »

By Anthoni Cefali, CNT Young Innovators Chicago’s climate resilience has been widely discussed following a number of extreme weather events on the East Coast and devastating drought in California, but its economic resilience may deserve just as much attention. Home to Fortune 500 companies and a vibrant tech scene along with the manufacturing muscle that fueled a population boom in the early 1900s, Chicago’s diverse economy employs 4 million people and produces a gross regional product north... Continue reading »

Equitable transit-oriented development (eTOD) seems like a no-brainer for many Chicagoans. Housing and amenities near transit are, after all, community assets. Residents can get to work faster, with less stress, and they’re able to go about their daily business without having to bear the expenses of auto ownership. However, across Chicago, these benefits are not shared equally. Investment in TOD areas (and beyond, for that matter) is uneven. Some neighborhoods don’t have any new investment... Continue reading »

Update 6/17/16: Last night at the Sustain-a-City Celebration, our panel of judges chose the winners of the 2016 Apps Competition. Congratulations to all of our finalists! The winning teams are: 1st place: Stop Crime App 2nd place: Chi Safe Path 3rd place: Neighbors Creating Neighborhoods People's Choice: Schedule Scout A big thank you as well to our judges: Shelley Stern Grach | Director – Civic Engagement for the Technology and Civic Engagement (TCE) group at Microsoft... Continue reading »

As leaders from around the world converge for the Chicago Forum on Global Cities, it's worth asking about the very nature of “global cities.” Are they simply big, innovative, and connected business centers that generate wealth for a select few? Or are they world-leading places because they create economic opportunity for everyone?   The often-cited A.T. Kearney Global Cities Index doesn’t even factor income inequality into its formula. But Euromoniter International finds that the world'... Continue reading »