Infrastructure trust-fund & economic sustainability

by Michael Rance

Coming from an incredibly environmentally-friendly city such as Seattle, I wasn't sure what to expect when I first step foot in Chicago. I was surprised to see incredibly beautiful parks, sculptures, and sandy beaches on clear open-water in a city that was often known for being industrial, dirty, and very undesirable to live in. All of these new parks and recreational areas for Chicago residents and travelers are all part of a plan from the Chicago city government to create a Chicago that is built to lead the region in sustainability on the environmental, economic, institutional, and social levels.

During a time of economic austerity such as this, federal, local, and state governments are routinely searching for ways to cut back on costs and find private sector help in deep-red budgets. Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his administration passed an act through the Chicago city council that creates an Infrastructure trust-fund, also known as an 'Infrastructure Bank'. An Infrastructure bank meshes together funds from private corporations and labor unions, along with occasional funds from the federal level, and a committee composed of six members on an advisory panel and five members of the group that votes on resolutions. It's an unprecedented move by a major American city, but it seems that the Chicago infrastructure bank will not only help pull the city out of the red, but it will also bring together the various subsections required to have sustainable leadership in a major city.

With the involvement of private-sector lending in the Chicago infrastructure trust-fund along with the infusion of federal and local funds, Chicago has an opportunity to create a stronger bond between the private-sector and public-sector in the Chicagoland area. When both of these economic sectors cooperate more efficiently, Chicago will be closer to more financial and economic sustainability. And with more financial stability and sustainability, the city government can spend more time investing in crucial infrastructure projects such as the repair and construction of water mains throughout the city of chicago. And with the political independence that the city of Chicago will get from using funds mostly from private lenders, the institutional core of the city government will become stronger in handling local issues and will become another part of the sustainable city leadership necessary to prepare the city of Chicago for the future.

Water Systems in Chicago

By Tyler Amodeo

The beauty city of Chicago has been blessed with Lake Michigan and it fresh water source, but the city’s water mains are over  one hundred years old and are prone to leakages. These leakages are a waste of valuable fresh water as well as the envy of the drought ridden south. The Mayor’s office plans on replacing and or upgrading the water mains throughout the city of Chicago. This project will take about ten years and require that all of the water mains be accessed during this process. The process will be grueling for commuters as well as for workers. Fortunately, the city plans to decrease the length of these setbacks by tackling pre-existing road problems at the same time as the water main construction. Such combining efforts will alleviate the need to come back to the same streets for water main repairs. Also, taking care of both issues at once will help conserve the amount of energy that would be needed to rip up the streets twice, and the man power that would be needed. Combining these two efforts will make commuters happier, the price of the work cheaper, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted lower, and repairing the water leaks.

I firmly believe that repairing the water mains would benefit Chicago in a two-fold manner. First, the water wouldn’t be wasted anymore, and secondly, commuters would be forced to travel via public transportations or on bicycles to avoid the enormous traffic delays that follow ripping up the streets. Forcing commuters to use public transportation would significantly help lower carbon dioxide emissions (http://www.newstips.org/2007/08/reducing-chicagos-carbon-footprint/).

As referenced in the article, public transportation vastly outweighs the benefits of bulky, space consuming, hybrid vehicles. Hybrid vehicles do still emit emissions and take up possible public transportation space. One possible way to help drive the public transportation effort would be to offer a discounted CTA long term pass to those switching over from vehicular transportation. Such promotion of the public transportation systems in Chicago would resemble the Pearl District in Portland, Oregon. In Pearl District many walkable areas have been instituted, away from the streets, as well as a light rail system with public transit pickups at each of its stops (http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/portlands_shrinking_carbon_foo.html).

 Though the Pearl District displays environmental advancements, “Compared to 2010, PWB carbon emissions increased 18% in 2011 due to demand for supplemental groundwater pumping and higher vehicle fleet fuel use”, their water related carbon footprints continues to rise. The city of Chicago is steadily increasing the sustainability of its water resource by fixing water main leaks, which simultaneously helps cut down on the cities carbon footprint.