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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary..3-4
1. Planning Process..5-62. Background on the Community7-16
3. Neighborhood Environmental Strengths17-224. Neighborhood
Environmental Weaknesses23-285. Climate Change &
Sustainability29-306. Footprint of the Neighborhood.317. Plan
Objectives..32-35
8. Strategies & Recommendations Buildings36-50
Transportation..51-64 Energy65-72 Municipal Services73-96
9. Conclusions..9710.Acknowledgements..98Appendices.99-104
Resources for Local Stakeholders..105-108
References109-114
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The community area of North Center is located on the north side
of Chicago, just east of the Chicago Rivers northbranch. Developed
in the second half of the 19
thCentury by the forces of industrialization, the community and
its
residents now face a 21st
Century full of environmental issues.
The North Center neighborhood is one of many neighborhoods in
the community area, including Roscoe Village,St. Bens, and Hamlin
Park. While focusing on North Center specifically, the North Center
Neighborhood
Climate Change & Sustainability Plan is also meant to
illustrate the links this area has to its neighbors, and to
theChicago region as a whole.
In 2008, the Chicago Climate Action Plan was published. It was
an ambitious outline of how to reduce the citys
carbon (CO2) footprint 25% below 1990-levels by the year 2020,
and 80% below 1990-levels by 2050. The planoutlines strategies for
energy-efficient buildings, clean & renewable energy sources,
improved transportation
options, reduced waste and industrial pollution, and adaptation.
Mayor Rahm Emmanuel has publicly pledgedsupport for this plan, so
communities across Chicago should embrace both climate change
strategies outlinedwithin the plan and strategies outside of the
plan.
Recent changes at the city/mayoral and local/aldermanic levels
provide indications that this community and city
are ready for change. Both Mayor Emanuel and 47th-Ward Alderman
Ameya Pawar have publicly supported green
initiatives, including strategies to combat climate change.
Although the economic factors of the Great Recession
era continue to affect every member of the North Center
neighborhood, climate change is still one of the largest
issues confronting cities in the 21st-century. Municipalities
and neighborhoods that develop strong environmentalvisions, plans
and policies will be better equipped to deal with these long-term
challenges.
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This North Center Neighborhood Climate Change &
Sustainability Plan acts as a public resource for North
Center neighborhood residents and stakeholders. It reviews the
history, demographics, and character of theneighborhood, and
addresses current environmental strengths and weaknesses in the
area. Short- and long-term
goals are offered as suggestions, as well as strategies for
accomplishing those goals. The ideas and options in thisdocument
are fashioned in order to help the North Center neighborhood with
realistic and practical climate changeadaptation and mitigation
techniquesat a local level.
