A WaterSense certified shower head.
Yesterday was World Water Day, and last week was Fix a Leak Week (though we really should be fixing leaks every week), so perhaps it's no coincidence that there's been a flurry of water-related activity in Springfield.
I've been following the movement of SB 2549, which would make it easier to harvest rainwater for non-potable uses like flushing toilets, and I'm happy to report the bill is progressing nicely. Meanwhile, just last week the Illinois Senate unanimously passed SB 3147, which would create income tax incentives for 25 percent of the cost of qualifying expenditures for "energy efficient projects" including WaterSense products, as well as green roofs and other environmentally sustainable landscaping. Assuming we succeed in the House, Illinois would become the first state in the…
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This post was written by Annie Lambla, MPC research assistant.
Would you like to see a farmers market in your neighborhood, or find more resources to grow your local market? Things are looking up, on both counts.
This month, the USDA announced $25 million in grants available over the next three years, including $5 million available in 2010, through the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP). The funds will help local governments and community organizations improve or start local markets. Apply here.
In other good news, a bill was introduced in the Illinois General Assembly (HB 4756) that would create a fund to help farmers markets buy the equipment required to process LINK cards, which are debit cards for people participating in the state’s food stamps program. This is welcome…
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A few weeks ago, the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was forced to shut down for two days because the short-term extension of our current federal transportation spending bill had expired. The shut down meant that approximately 2,000 people could not go back to work and hundreds of millions of dollars in federal reimbursements could not be paid. Federal inspectors, safety programs, and the entire highway department were closed for business.
Politicians in Washington knew the deadline was quickly approaching and yet, not until the Friday before the expiration, was anything introduced to fix this problem.
Because the federal surface transportation bill is the spending program that funds our transit, rail, road, highway and bridge improvements for six years, it requires significant…
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Next Friday, March 26, from noon to 2 p.m., MPC and the Center for Housing Policy are co-hosting a live teleconference and webinar to discuss key policy opportunities to improve connections between housing, transportation and workers.
The two-part event will begin at noon CST with a 30-minute conference call. Listeners will find out the top takeaways from recent listening sessions MPC and the Center convened in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., and Atlanta, Ga., at which stakeholders from each city talked about positive progress they’ve made to coordinate housing, transportation and workforce, as well as challenges they’ve encountered. The call-in number is (712) 432-1001 and the access code is 452746624#.
Immediately following the call, from 12:30 to 2 p.m. CST, you can interact…
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A recent study found that mortgage foreclosures are less likely in communities that are more compact, walkable, and accessible to public transportation. Analysis of 40,000 mortgages in Chicago, San Francisco, and Jacksonville, Fl., by the Natural Resources Defense Council confirms that the costs associated with car dependency increase a family's likelihood to fall into foreclosure, when all other factors are controlled. Transportation costs account for roughly 17 percent of the average American household's income, but living in walkable neighborhoods and taking public transit can allow people to significantly reduce their transportation costs.
The Livable Communities Act has been introduced in Congress to support planning and investments that link housing, transportation, and workforce…
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