CMAP Soles and Spokes Workshop

From 8:30 a.m. to noon on December 11, 2008, CMAP will host its 2008 Soles and Spokes Workshop, titled "The Nuts and Bolts of Implementing a Local Bikeway Plan." The location is CMAP's offices in Suite 800 of Sears Tower, 233 South Wacker Dr., Chicago, IL 60606. This half-day workshop will cover the basic steps of developing and implementing a local bikeway network, including route selection, directional signing, network planning and facility engineering. For more information, see the Workshop Flyer and Agenda (opens 316KB PDF). The workshop is being conducted in partnership with the Illinois Section of ASCE, Transportation Group. A fee of $25 is required, and registration will be available at ASCE's website starting Monday, November 17. For more information, contact John O'Neal (312-386-8822 or joneal@cmap.illinois.gov).

MUPP and REG Networking Opportunity

MUPPS,

REMINDER: this Thursday from 6-7:30 the REG (Real Estate Group) is
offering an event - Interpreting the Real Estate Economy.

This event would be of particular interest to Economic Development &
Community Development specialists.

This is a great opportunity to meet masters students in the UPP program
and working professionals specializing in real estate and development.

Please RSVP to carvan1@uic.edu if you plan on attending


INTERPRETING THE REAL ESTATE ECONOMY

Thursday, November 20, 2008
6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
UIC Student Center East
Conference Center
Fort Dearborn Room
3rd Floor

Featured Speaker:
Peter J. Marino
Senior Vice President
CB Richard Ellis / Melody

The election is over! What’s next?
Please join us for this in-depth and informative discussion on:

Real Estate in the U.S. Economy
Defining Real Estate and Its Economic Effects
Real Estate in the GDP
The Cyclicality of Real Estate
Current Problems in Real Estate and Lessons Learned

Jobs: Associate Planner in Janesville, Wi

Associate Planner (Transportation and Comprehensive)

Janesville, located in south central Wisconsin, is a progressive Council-Manager administered city of 63,000. This position has diverse responsibilities, emphasizing multi-modal transportation planning, data collection, and technical report preparation for the City of Janesville, the Janesville Transit System, and the Janesville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO).

Planner coordinates MPO activities and agendas, including preparation of annual work program, transportation improvement program, and the Long Range Transportation Plan. Position also involves comprehensive planning, current planning, and socio-economic analysis responsibilities as assigned.

Requires Bachelors degree in Urban Planning, Public Administration, Geography, or related field and two years relevant experience; or Masters Degree (preferred) and some local government experience. Individual must be self-motivated, energetic, posses excellent oral and written communication skills, strong customer service skills and experience in report preparation, public presentations, and software applications such as word processing, spreadsheets, databases, and GIS. Salary range $39,406 to $56,008 depending upon education and experience. Excellent fringe benefit package.

Cover letter, resume, application, and references due December 12, 2008. Obtain applications M-F (7:30-4:30) at Municipal Building, 18 N. Jackson Street, or at www.ci.janesville.wi.us.

Submit materials to: Human Resources, City of Janesville, 18 N. Jackson Street, PO Box 5005, Janesville, WI 53547-5005; e-mail KalsonK@ci.janesville.wi.us.

News: Affordable Housing Rises Out Of Foreclosure Crisis

Source: NPR Morning Edition

November 17, 2008 · Lancaster, Calif., is a high desert community on the far outskirts of Los Angeles. Officials there are spending millions of dollars to fix up foreclosed properties and make them into affordable housing. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced $4 billion worth of grants to local development agencies nationwide to do the same thing. Rob Schmitz of member station KQED talks with Renee Montagne about Lancaster's progress fighting the foreclosure crisis.

Click for story

Baguio takes second look at Burnham Plan

BAGUIO CITY – This city, the country’s undisputed summer capital, was designed by Chicago-based architect Daniel Burnham to host 25,000 residents in 1906.

Officially chartered in 1909, Baguio will celebrate its centennial next year. The city achieved its maximum population in less than 50 years, from 489 residents in 1903 to 29,262 in 1948. Almost 100 years later, local architects and urban planners have been busy studying how much of the city’s development template could still be applied to an urban renewal campaign for a city population that reached 183,000 in 1991.

Baguio’s population grew to just under 300,000 after 2005, says Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr.
Filipinos today only remember Burnham for the manmade lake and park named after him. But his name has been inevitably tied to the city he helped build.

Feet First -- Building Walkable Communities

Help Make the Emerald City More Green!

Seattle Green Map, a local coalition of citizens and organizations concerned about the social and environmental health of Seattle, is looking for new members to help launch a print map of Seattle's "green" resources and expand the current interactive online version.
Started in 2002, Seattle Green Map (SGM) is an independent nonpartisan organization made up entirely of volunteers and supported by the contributions of time, resources, and funds from local organizations, businesses, government agencies, and individuals.

SGM is a part of the Green Map System (www.greenmap.org ), a global eco-cultural movement, energized by local action, knowledge, and responsibility. To date there are 378 green map projects throughout the world in 49 countries.

Seattle Green Map ( www.seattlegreenmap.net) is looking for people passionate about local sustainability issues and their community. Currently we are most in need of volunteers with skills, knowledge, or experience in the following areas: community outreach, web design, GIS online mapping, marketing and fundraising, and graphic design.
Everyone is welcome to join us for this community effort.

TO APPLY Interested people should contact Rebecca Deehr at becca@feetfirst.info.

UPPSA Holiday Party

You are invited to come out and celebrate Christmas in November! Yes we will be celebrating the holidays on November 21st and we're expecting all of you to come out and join us.

We will eat Korean Barbeque and then Karaoke!

What better way to celebrate the holidays? So please come out and meet us on Friday, November 21st at 6pm @:

San Soo Gap San 5247 North Western Avenue for dinner and

Lincoln Karaoke at 5526 North Lincoln Avenue afterwards!

Chicago History Museum Exhibit on High Speed Rail in Chicago

November 8, 2008–January 19, 2009

Chicago History Museum

KPMG and Paul and Katherine Snyder Community Gallery

Monday–Wednesday & Friday–Saturday 9:30 am–4:30 pm Thursday 9:30 am–8 pm; Sunday 12–5 pm

Free with museum entrance fee

The Chicago of the near future—too pluralistic, decentralized, and complex for the sort of comprehensive urban plan proposed by Daniel Burnham in 1909—will require new tools, mechanisms, and strategies. Burnham 2.0, promulgated and curated by the Chicago Architectural Club, will envision a new plan of Chicago in the form of discrete topics, episodes, and urban projects conceived by members of the Club working in teams. The show will also display the top entries in the Club’s biennial Burnham Prize international design competition, focusing this year on designs for one aspect of the new composite urban plan: an intermodal terminal in Chicago’s West Loop district where a regional high-speed train hub will interface with local highway, metro, and riverway networks.

Presented by the Chicago Humanities Festival in partnership with the Chicago Architectural Club and the Chicago History Museum

Jobs: GIS Analyst, City of Janesville, Wi

Janesville, located in south central Wisconsin, is a progressive Council-Manager administered city of more than 63,000. Newly created position is responsible for maintenance of City’s GIS system, datasets, and base maps using ESRI software. Performs complex spatial analysis; researches, collects and analyzes data for inclusion in reports and documents. Responds to public inquiries and provides information related to zoning, land use planning, mapping and other data requests. Prepares maps and graphic displays for presentations, meetings, and technical reports for the Community Development Department and other city departments. Requires Bachelors degree in Geography, Urban Planning, Landscape Architecture or a related field, or Associates Degree in CADD or GIS with two years of work experience; self-motivated, detail orientated, energetic individual, with excellent oral and written communication skills. Salary range $35,700 - $50,741 depending upon education and experience. Janesville residency preferred. Excellent fringe benefit package. Applications due 11/21/08. Send cover letter with resume and references to the Human Resources Division or you may apply online.

Click for more information

Photo Credit

HOUSING AND THE OLYMPIC GAMES

HOUSING AND THE OLYMPIC GAMES
Learning from the past…making a positive social legacy in the future

Presentation and discussion with Claire Mahon
Joint Coordinator of the Project on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights

Thursday November 13, 2008 10:30-12noon Great Cities Institute 4th Floor, CUPPA Hall 412 S Peoria St.
Claire Mahon is part of an international research team working on the Olympic Games and Housing Rights, coordinated by the Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. She is also a Research Associate and occasional Senior Lecturer at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, and an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School.

Ms. Mahon is principle author of Fair Play for Housing Rights: Mega-Events, Olympic Games and Housing Rights (Geneva: COHRE, 2007), and Multi-Stakeholder Guidelines for Mega-Events and Housing Rights (Geneva:COHRE, 2007). As part of the research for this project on Mega-events, Olympic Games and Housing Rights, she undertook missions to visit previous Olympic Host Cities, namely Seoul, Atlanta, Barcelona, Athens, Sydney, and London. The research findings were published in 7 separate reports on Housing Rights in Olympic Host Cities.

Ms. Mahon has extensive experience working on human rights with particular attention to monitoring economic, social and cultural rights in the field, and in accessing the UN human rights mechanisms. She has also taught and trained students, diplomats, advocates, field officers, and UN staff in over 20 countries, including Australia, Canada, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, the USA and Vietnam.

Sponsored by UIC Great Cities Institute, Nathalie P. Voorhees Center for Neighborhood and Community Improvement, Urban Planning and Policy Department, and the Urban and Public Affairs Program.

Please contact Brenda Parker (bkparker@uic.edu) or Janet Smith (janets@uic.edu) if you need assistance or further information about this event.

Janet Smith
Co-Director, Nathalie P. Voorhees Center
Associate Professor, Urban Planning and Policy Program
University of Illinois at Chicago
400 S. Peoria St.
Suite 2100 (MC345)
Chicago, Illinois 60607
312-996-5083
http://www.uic.edu/cuppa/voorheesctr/

Internship: The Renaissance Collaborative, Inc.

The Renaissance Collaborative is a non-profit devoted to addressing the housing needs of low- and moderate-income residents in Chicago's near- and mid-south communities.

The centerpiece of TRC's work is The Renaissance Apartments and Fitness for Life Center, a 101-unit single room occupancy (SRO) living center with supportive services.

The Renaissance Apartments and Fitness for Life Center resides in a historic building that was once home to the Wabash YMCA. The Wabash Y was the hub of Black civic and social activity in the early 1900s. As Blacks migrated from the South to the North, the Wabash Y was the orientation center for new African American arrivals seeking a better way of life.

Today, The Renaissance Apartments and Life Center continues to help people improve and rebuild their lives. The facility offers health and wellness, continued recovery support, nutrition, mental and physical health services; employment education and training; job readiness, employment referrals and retention services as well as life management training.

Employment and Education is our core component of our comprehensive supportive housing agenda. This means that the other primary services (Health & Wellness and Life Skills) support an Education-Employment agenda of our residents. Some have barriers beyond education and employment that must be addressed in order for them to secure their employment/education goals? These barriers may be mental, physical, an ex-offender record, etc.

Supportive Services-

Education and Employment: Entrepreneurship Seminars
GED, Computer Classes, Customer Service Training, Landscaping Training Program

Health and Wellness: AA/NA Meetings, Nutrition Classes, Counseling,
Relapse Prevention

Life Skills: Criminal Expungement, Financial Literacy and IDA
Program, Housing Referrals,
Social Events

Employment and Education is our core component of our comprehensive supportive housing agenda. This means that the other primary services (Health & Wellness and Life Skills) support an Education-Employment agenda of our residents. Some have barriers beyond education and employment that must be addressed in order for them to secure their employment/education goals? These barriers may be mental, physical, an ex-offender record, etc.

Internship Description: (Supportive Services Intern- Job/Business Development)

The internship as described has the potential to be tailored to fit the criteria to fulfill the requirements of a Master's Project or a Senior Capstone Project

Our Supportive Services division is in need of an intern to work along side our staff on a variety of projects.

Some areas where the potential intern would work would be:

Social Venture/Business Planning
Case Management
Clerical/Administrative Support
Advocacy
Community Outreach

Interested Parties should have a background in or be students in:

* Social work
* Urban planning and policy
* Urban and economic development
* Business and community development

Candidates should be computer literate
Open to undergraduate, graduate students, or volunteers.

Days and Hours are flexible


Application instructions:

Please forward Cover Letter or Letter of Interest, and Resume to:
Walter Bush, Education and Employment Manager

773-924-9271 ext 29
fax 773-924-9271
wbush@trcwabash.org

American Radio Works Documentary: After the Projects

American Radio Works a program of American Public Media introduces a radio documentary, "After the Projects: The uncertain future of public housing."

Michael Whitehead recently moved into a clean one-bedroom apartment on a wide tree-lined street in Chicago. It's in a small apartment building with a tidy lawn in a fenced backyard. Whitehead had been living for 48 years in the Wells-Madden public housing complex. Until recently, Wells-Madden occupied 94 acres on Chicago's south side. It was infested with drug dealers, but until now, it was the only place Whitehead could afford to live. Whitehead is 57 years old and a diabetic. He lives on about $300 a month in government assistance plus any money from odd jobs for friends and family.

Elena Lawson lives in Dearborn Homes, a 16-building public housing complex on Chicago's south side. Lawson's mother moved into Dearborn in 1976. When Lawson grew up, she got her own apartment in the same building. She has two teenage sons. Lawson recently got a job, and the city is fixing up the building she used to live in at Dearborn. The family is temporarily living in a rundown apartment building nearby.

Click here for the story