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Infrastructure Initiative

ULI Chicago is on a mission to change the discussion around infrastructure. After releasing two reports outlining 22 infrastructure projects with catalytic community impact, ULI Chicago has been touring the region, encouraging elected officials and involved citizens to view infrastructure in a broader context, through the Game Changers process.

Infrastructure Initiative

At ULI Chicago, we view infrastructure as the backbone of the built environment.

We navigate traffic signals on local roads, alongside busses, cars, pedestrians and bicyclists; share the highway with fellow commuters and freight trucks; ride CTA trains over bridges and through tunnels; or simply stroll down shade-covered sidewalks. Even on a recreational journey we might pedal down bike lanes or jog alongside Lake Michigan on a Park District trail. Every day we are on the move, and every day we rely on infrastructure.

Our interactions with infrastructure go beyond the corridors, rails and wheels delivering us from Point A to Point B – infrastructure is the underpinning for what exists at each destination: Pipes that carry water; wires conducting electricity; grids to supply energy and miles of dark fiber to deliver technology. Even when infrastructure is ‘out of sight’, hidden behind walls or working beneath our feet, it cannot be ‘out of mind’. We support smart investment to maintain and support the infrastructure to help our communities thrive.

ULI Chicago’s Infrastructure Initiative is a multiyear effort led by ULI Chicago’s Infrastructure Committee. Its goals are to:

• Address the relationship between infrastructure and land use;
• Improve regional infrastructure decision-making; and
• Develop national models of best practices.

To date, projects include the development of the Infrastructure Game Changers Analysis Process, its application to the Lakeshore Industrial Heritage Corridor and Regional Infrastructure in Northeastern Illinois, and investigation of infrastructure finance.

ULI/Curtis Regional Infrastructure Project

ULI Chicago is part of the ULI/Curtis Regional Infrastructure Project. Supported by ULI trustee James J. Curtis, the ULI/Curtis Regional Infrastructure Project is a three-year initiative launched with the goal of better linking infrastructure, land use, and sustainability at the regional level. The Curtis Project emphasizes developing leadership and models of best practices. Selected by a competitive process and led by ULI’s Infrastructure Initiative, participants include the ULI District Councils in Chicago, Seattle, Florida, and Minnesota.

Recent Infrastructure News

America In 2013, New ULI Report on Where and How Americans Want to Live

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Posted on May 30, 2013 by ULI Chicago

ULI PRESS RELEASE SAN DIEGO (May 15, 2013) — A new report from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) underscores the influence that growing demographic groups in the U.S. – in particular Generation Y, African Americans, and Latinos – will have on reshaping urban growth patterns by spurring more development of compact, mixed-use communities with reliable, convenient transit service. America in 2013, released during ULI’s Spring Meeting this week in San Diego, is based on a nationwide survey of 1,202 adults conducted between January 16 and February 3, 2013. It includes … Read More

Chicago’s Union Station “Project to Watch” According to New ULI Infrastructure Report

Infrastructure-2013
Posted on May 29, 2013 by ULI Chicago

New global report from the Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young highlights the critical role of local and state governments in meeting US infrastructure requirements ULI PRESS RELEASE SAN DIEGO (May 16, 2013) – State and local governments in the U.S. are leading the way in delivering infrastructure projects against a backdrop of budget constraints and an ongoing lack of consensus about future investments by the federal government, according to Infrastructure 2013: Global Priorities, Global Insights, a joint report from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Ernst & Young. … Read More

Game Changing Infrastructure on the Move: Elgin-O’Hare Bypass Approved

Posted on January 24, 2013 by ULI Chicago

Highlighted as one of 22 ‘Game Changing’ infrastructure projects by the ULI Chicago Infrastructure Initiative, the Elgin-O’Hare West Bypass has secured federal approval and will move to construction in Spring 2013. The Bypass project, coupled with expanded capacity and modernization at O’Hare, will have catalytic development potential and land use implications for the corridors and communities west of O’Hare. Attend the ULI Chicago Airport Program on February 8th to learn more Read Elgin-O’Hare Western Access project clears last federal hurdle, Crain’s, 1/23/13 Read U.S. Department of Transportation Gives Final Approval for … Read More