May 2012
11 posts
CCT and ATA Choose BI at CMAP →
Talk about acronym soup… the Chicago Community Trust has awarded the Active Transportation Alliance funding to continue working with Blue Island on implementation of our Complete Streets ordinance. Announcement came yesterday at CMAP’s LTA (that’s Local Technical Assistance) Ideas Exchange.
Thanks to all the agencies and partners involved!
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Another Gem "Hidden" in Plain Sight!
Do you know where to find this home?
Continuing our Preservation Month theme of Hidden Gems, this residence is a true “gem,” if not exactly hidden on the corner of Fairview and Birdsall. But we bet it’s largely unknown and even overlooked! This style of home has been given the dour description of “minimal traditional” by architectural historians, but we think it...
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Bike to Work Week Coming June 9-15
Active Transportation Alliance is once again supporting its annual Bike Commuter Challenge, and it’s just around the corner. For the third year the City of Blue Island will host a team, competing against neighboring municipalities to see who has the bikin’est employees around. Can you find your team?
Building on the fun of last year’s “bike away from work” history...
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U-TOD Moving Forward
Blue Island’s long awaited Transit-Oriented Development zoning district continues to move toward adoption. On Monday, May 14 at 6pm the Zoning Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing to discuss the proposed Uptown-TOD (U-TOD) district. The meeting will be held at the City Hall East Annex, 2434 Vermont Street, Blue Island. The Blue Island City Council will hear the recommendation of the...
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Hidden Gems: Blue Island Community Gardens & Urban...
Blue Island has a rich and diverse heritage of agriculture and local food production, which is somewhat unique for an older, industrial community. Elements can still be found in many places around town, including our local community gardens. Visit the gardens below and discover 2 of Blue Island’s Hidden Gems. Sign up to garden or volunteer and honor this piece of our community’s...
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Volunteers Needed: CG2 Community Garden Build Days
BICDD and volunteer partners are finishing construction of California Gardens Community Garden (CG2) and looking for volunteers to help finish construction and installation of key infrastructure so that our gardeners can get started.
Garden Construction & Planting Dates
Location:SE Corner of 141st/Francisco – next to the Tommy A. Brown Sports Association (2805 141st St, Blue Island, IL ...
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Discover Blue Island's Hidden Gems This May!
May is National Preservation Month and this year’s theme is “Discover America’s Hidden Gems.” Communities from coast to coast are filled with unexplored historic treasures—Blue Island is no exception.
This May, we welcome you to Discover Blue Island’s Hidden Gems and to learn more about local preservation programs. Explore new neighborhoods or blocks. Visit the Historical Society....
April 2012
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Get Involved with Blue Island Waterways
Blue Island has grown up alongside important waterways, from the Little Calumet River and Stony Creek to a modern marvel like the Cal-Sag Channel. This May and June there are two opportunities to “give back” to our rivers and enjoy a favorite recreation destination.
On May 12, 2012, Blue Island residents and volunteers once again participate in the Friends of the Chicago River annual...
Openlands - Openlandscapes: Spot Rare Migrating... →
Do you know about the rare birds you can see in nearby Matteson? Let’s go birding!
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Get to Know Your Urban Forestry Board this April!
Celebration Arbor Day 2012 (April 27) by getting to know and supporting the Blue Island’s Urban Forestry Board (UFB).
The UFB is a volunteer board who assists City Council and staff with forestry and landscaping issues in Blue Island. In addition to monthly meeting, members work hard on local tree related issues and activities - some of these efforts are visible, while many are behind the...
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Bungalow Appreciation Week: May 2012
A familiar sight along Blue Island streets and across Chicagoland, the humble bungalow is about to get its day… or week… in the sun. Helped by a resolution from State Sen. Martin Sandoval of Berwyn, the first week of May is now officially “Bungalow Appreciation Week” in Illinois!
Bungalows are much loved in our area, with a truly unique twist to the housing style known as...
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March 2012
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Eat Local with a Blue Island Delivery!
Have you wanted to “eat local,” but didn’t know how? Don’t have time for the farmers markets? What if we told you that organic, local produce is delivered to Blue Island every week?! We’re encouraging everyone to join the local food movement and sign up for produce from Genesis Growers.
Blue Island residents began weekly deliveries of produce, eggs, and chicken from...
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What is Good Food?
In March, the Good Food Festival and Conference launched in Chicago. Part of a pair of conferences supported by FamilyFarmed.org, the event brought together farmers, educators, activists, policy makers, and foodies of all types to promote and engage on issues related to food access, security, and health.
Organized around topics of financing, policy, and a full roster of workshops, Good Food...
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'Get Your Plate In Shape' this March & Beyond
It’s National Nutrition Month - this year Registered Dietitians encourage YOU to make sure you are eating the recommended amounts of fruits, vegetables, grains, protein foods and dairy each and every day.
Visit ChooseMyPlate.org to find out more and read on for tips on local opportunities for purchasing or growing your own healthy, fresh foods.
Make 1/2 your plate fruits &...
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Shop Blue Island's Healthy HotSpots for March...
This month’s vegetable of the month highlights 2 often forgotten members of the onion family ― Leeks & Green Onions (Scallions).
Leeks and green onions look similar they both have bulbous-like ends, fringed roots, and long leaves. These vegetables have an established food history, with usage from European to Asian cuisines, thus illustrating their versatile nature.
Shop Blue...
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Blue Island's Uptown TOD District
Blue Islanders have long enjoyed the conveniences of a central business district and easy connections to public transit. The rest of Chicagoland first took notice with the adoption of our Blue Island Plan for Economic Development. One of the goals of the Blue Island Plan was to adopt zoning and land use regulations that promoted the assets of our Uptown commercial area through Transit-Oriented...
February 2012
9 posts
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WatchA humorous look at the mess cars have made of our world. Ends with some simple but radical suggestions to fix it.
2012 Walk Across Illinois Challenge →
The Walk Across Illinois Challenge encourages all Illinois residents to walk 167 miles - the equivalent of walking from the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan, during 2012. This interactive website allows walkers to track their progress on a virtual walk across Illinois.
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Blue Island Posts a Preserve America Success
Preserve America, a grant program launched by First Lady Laura Bush and managed by the National Park Service, has been an unbridled success in Blue Island. This unique program provided the funding to create public-private partnerships that built on history and culture as economic development fundamentals, creating opportunities to promote heritage tourism as a model for stronger communities.
Blue...
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Blue Island to Adopt Active Transportation Plan
When Active Transportation Alliance dubbed Blue Island “The Biking-est Bike Commuter Town in Chicagoland,” we knew we were going places… and we knew how we were going to get there: by bike, on foot, on the bus, the train. On February 28th, bikin’ Blue Islanders and their friends have a reason to celebrate, as City Council is set to adopt Blue Island’s Active...
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Historic Improvements to School Meals Will Mean...
Last week, USDA announced new meal requirements that will raise standards for the 1st time in more than 15 years and improve the health and nutrition of nearly 32 million kids that participate in school meal programs every school day. The healthier meal requirements are a key component of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which was championed by the First Lady as part of her Let’s Move! campaign...
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Community Garden Plots Available: Gardeners &...
With all the nice weather we have been having, who isn’t thinking of Spring?! We sure are!
There are still plots available at both California Gardens Community Garden (CG2) & Memorial Park Community Garden. Details on each garden are listed below:
California Gardens Community Garden (CG2)
2012 is the premiere growing season at CG2.
Available Plot Sizes
4’x8’ raised...
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February Veggie of the Month: Exotic Veggies...
Check your neighborhood Healthy Hotspots (La Unica & Hidalgo Meats) for these delicious veggies.
If you can’t find Calabaza or Chayote, try another type of squash, perhaps one grown locally - you won’t be disappointed!
Calabaza is a type of pumpkin-like squash that is round in shape and varies in size. It can be as large as a watermelon or as small as a cantaloupe. The color...
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February Fruit of the Month: Star Fruit
The star fruit or carambola is a tropical fruit that is gaining popularity in the United States. This fruit acquired its name from the 5-pointed star shape when cut across the middle of the fruit.
It has a waxy, golden yellow to green color skin with a complicated flavor combination that includes plums, pineapples, and lemons.
Star Fruit Origin
Originally from Sri Lanka and the Moluccas, and...
January 2012
14 posts
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BIPL Celebrates Gary Hustwit Films
Gary Hustwit’s documentary film “Design Trilogy” - Helvetica, Objectified, and Urbanized - will be screening over the coming month at the Blue Island Public Library. From typeface to design to the places we call home, Hustwit’s films explore how “small ideas can lead to big changes.”
Movie fans can view all three award-winning documentaries by innovator Gary...
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Cook County Department of Public Health launched...
Cook County Department of Public health launched the “Rethink Your Drink” Campaign on January 2nd. “Rethink your Drink” is part of a county-wide effort to reduce the consumption of sugar-loaded beverages. Sugar-loaded beverages (i.e., sodas, energy drinks, sports drinks) are the single greatest source of calories in the American diet, providing approximately 10% of the...
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Urban Forests Create Vibrant Cities →
A new report Vibrant Cities & Urban Forests: A National Call to Action, establishes a vision, highlights emerging trends, and culminates with a series of recommendations that can be applied to urban areas across the US.
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Calling All Data Nerds: Excerpt from "Megapolitan... →
An excerpt from the book Megapolitan America is now available. The Atlantic Cities blog recently covered how the book analyzes data that suggests dramatic shifts by 2040, including a U.S. economy dominated by 23 megapolitan regions. The authors write: “In our view, we need to target many long-range planning and public policy efforts to where people live, not where they don’t.”
Winter Bike to Work Day | Active Transportation... →
Who’s with us?!
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A Plan for America's Largest Urban Park:... →
The largest open space project in the country is coming to the South Side of Chicago.
The project aims to transform 140,000 acres of brownfields and other under-utilized land in the Calumet region into the Millennium Reserve — a public recreation hub teeming with plants, wildlife, trains and parks. The effort draws from President Barack Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative and state...
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Green Drinks at Flossmoor Station
The next Southland Green Drinks will be Thursday, January 19th at Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery beginning at 6pm. This month the speaker will be Jaime Aruguete PMP, LEED AP BD+C, PR/Marketing Chair at USGBC Illinois Chapter South Suburban Branch who will give a short talk highlighting US Green Building Council’s work in the southland and hold a discussion.
Green Drinks...
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A Photographic Blast From the [Environmental] Past →
In Jan 1972, the USEPA asked nearly 100 freelance photographers to roam the country in the pursuit of a single goal: documenting “the environmental happenings and non-happenings” of the decade. By 1977, the photographers had submitted more than 80,000 images for the project, known as Documerica. About 1/4 of the photos were shown in public exhibitions but then filed away and largely forgotten.
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WatchSee Potential: an amazing project combining urban agriculture, community development, and every other buzz word. This is what it’s all about!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/196569648/see-potential
SEE POTENTIAL - VISUALIZE CHANGE - MOBILIZE COMMUNITY
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Attention All Gardeners - Community Garden Plots...
Blue Islander’s have been hard at work developing community gardens, and now we need you - Blue Island’s Community Gardeners.
There are 2 locations:
Memorial Park Community Garden
Active for the past 2 years, this garden is located behind the Memorial Park Pool. Raised bed garden plots are 4’x10’ and available for rent at $25 per season.
California Gardens Community...
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January Vegetable of the Month-Tubers
Tubers are January’s Vegetable of the Month. What are Tubers…you ask?
Tubers are various types of modified plant structures that are enlarged to store nutrients. They are used by plants to survive the winter or dry months, and provide energy for regrowth.
Examples of tubers include: Potatoes, Yams, Jicama, Sunchoke, Taro Root, and Water Chestnut.
Shop Blue Island’s Healthy Hot...
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January Fruit of The Month- Dried Fruits
Shop Local for January’s Fruit of the Month: Dried Fruit
Dried Fruit is fruit where the majority of the original water content has been removed either naturally, thru sun drying, or through the use of specialized dehydrators.
It has a long traditon of use dating back to the fourth millennium B.C. and is prized becuase of its sweet taste, wrinkly texture, nutritive value and long shelf...
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January is National Mentoring Month
January 2012 is the 11th National Mentoring Month.
A mentor is a coach, guide, tutor, facilitator, counselor and trusted advisor. A mentor is someone willing to spend his or her time and expertise to guide the development of another person.
As tutors, coaches, teachers, volunteers, and friends, mentors commit their time and energy to kids who may otherwise lack a positive, mature influence in...
December 2011
16 posts
NE District: 2011 Year in Review (Part II) →
2011 Grant & Technical Assistance Awards Local Technical Assistance Award from CMAP – Existing Traffic Conditions May 2011: Following City’s application, CMAP completed traffic counts for the NE…
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Educate Yourself: Intro to Public-Private... →
This Policy Update is the 1st in a series on the topic of public-private partnerships by Chicago Metropolitan Planning Agency (CMAP). The next post will focus on public-private partnerships and federal transportation reauthorization, the following will discuss PPPs and transit, and the final post will provide a more focused look at PPPs for major capital projects identified in CMAP’s...
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Students make it their mission to preserve... →
Congrats to Dan O’Brien and Emily Wallrath. You may have seen this top historic preservation team wandering our own streets as they completed a survey of landmark properties in Blue Island for the Historic Preservation Commission.
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Traditional New Year's Foods From Around The World
New Year’s Traditions all over the world center around food, health and prosperity.
Spain & Mexico: A tradition of eating 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve dates back to 1909, when the wine makers had a surplus of grapes and needed a creative way to market them. According to the tradition each grape represented a month, so if your 3rd grape was sour, May...