This month we kicked off year two of our work to democratize the urban environment through knowledge sharing. The Community Planning Academy empowers residents to create positive change in their communities through weekly meetings with planners, developers, and advocates.  

Topics to be covered during weekly meetings through the end of May include: History of Chicago & Planning Processes; Land Use, Zoning & Power; Housing, Gentrification & Displacement; Development, Displacement & Capital… to name a few! The participants will also complete a capstone project in small groups. The collaborative project with Chicago Architecture Center attracted more than 100 applicants this year for 16 spots in the new cohort. We hosted a kickoff for this year’s cohort plus alumni from year one at our new office earlier this month.  

We’ve made steady progress toward completing construction on the Cook County funded RainReady Calumet projects since our RainReady steering committees’ celebration in December. At Burr Oak Academy in Calumet Park, a refurbished playground sits atop a giant rain garden in the courtyard of the school—with a water theme, of course! (photo above).  

These projects are in addition to work completed over the past several years, including gap funding for street upgrades to address flooding along Winchester Avenue in Calumet Park and helping to build more green alleys in Calumet City. We’re grateful to our project colleagues at Greenprint Partners for their participation and of course to Cook County Department of Environment for making this work possible over the past several years.  

Center for Neighborhood Technology has regularly convened community leaders and changemakers for conversations focused on the built environment in recent years. The conversation is going virtual this spring with our first Visionary Voices podcast.  

We’ve already planned our first conversation, between CEO Nina Idemudia and Senior Director Jacky Grimshaw, on the new Northern Illinois Transit Act and what it means for equitable transit-oriented development. Watch for it online soon!  

Advocates urge upzoning and climate-conscious housing | Evanston Now March 21, 2026

For folks in Detroit or who plan to be there for the American Planning Association national conference, CNT CEO Nina Idemudia — aka the “Planner with a Purpose” — is organizing a Detroit Activation leading up to the conference and staff will be on hand sharing more about our tools and how to use them, as well.  

Several workshops, site visits and other activities will be offered. CNT Managing Director Justin Romeo will lead several workshops during the Detroit Activation as well. One session will focus on our recently developed Urban Flooding Baseline and Truck Count tools while another will cover the Housing + Transportation Index and All Transit platforms.  

Each session will include overview and use cases for each tool and tips for participants on how to gather data for own geographic areas.  

The activation is made possible with support from Muse Community Design, Next City, and others. This event is free, with donations requested. More information here.