What did you think of Gov. Blagojevich’s State of the State address? In case you missed it, here is the text as provided by the Governor’s office:

State of the State and Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Address
Governor Rod R. Blagojevich

In a time of economic challenge, it is our challenge to offer a way forward. Times are tough. People are worried. But there are solutions. I am here to talk about the state of the state and to present a budget. But how do you talk about the state of Illinois without first talking about the state of the nation?

Today, we are a country at war. Leading economists warn of a recession, unemployment is up, more and more Americans find themselves without health care, and many families face the very real possibility of losing their homes.

In America the promise of the American Dream is a promise that is getting harder to keep. In Illinois we are guiding a ship in the midst of a storm. But, our ship of state is on the right course to navigate through that storm.

In spite of national trends, here in Illinois, we have made real progress for people. Over the last four years, we led the Midwest in job creation; we raised the minimum wage twice, more than three quarters of a million people have gotten health care, including All Kids. We are the first state in the nation to create a fund to help families keep their homes. We put a record amount of money in our public schools without raising taxes on people and, most recently, Illinois became the only state in the nation where a senior citizen can ride the bus for free.

We have made a lot of progress for people. But make no mistake about it these are tough times. And when times are tough, I believe the best way to fight for families and fight for people is to focus on strengthening the economy.

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State of Illinois | 2 Comments »

According to the Journal Star, no one is calling for Howett and/or Lincoln streets to be torn out and turned into dedicated hiking/biking trails. Instead, a tinted bike lane will share the street with automobiles. No one is upset about this compromise, political candidates are not being asked to make statements about it, and no one is threatening to do a “Meigs Field operation” on the south side streets.

So the question is, why isn’t that compromise good enough for the Kellar Branch issue? It should be the model for how to share and share alike. There should be a way to share the rail corridor where feasible, and utilize tinted on-street bike lanes around whichever areas of the corridor cannot be shared due to topographical or other complications.

I hope compromises like this are being considered by the new Peoria/Peoria Heights committee.

Kellar Branch, Peoria Streets | 5 Comments »

Many scoff at the idea people would want to abandon suburban life for a more urban setting, but researchers are noticing a trend in just that direction. If these forecasts are true, what will the ramifications be for all those low-density developments on the fringe of town? Here’s an article from Atlantic Monthly that should give city planners and developers something to think about:

Arthur C. Nelson, director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech, has looked carefully at trends in American demographics, construction, house prices, and consumer preferences. In 2006, using recent consumer research, housing supply data, and population growth rates, he modeled future demand for various types of housing. The results were bracing: Nelson forecasts a likely surplus of 22 million large-lot homes (houses built on a sixth of an acre or more) by 2025—that’s roughly 40 percent of the large-lot homes in existence today.

For 60 years, Americans have pushed steadily into the suburbs, transforming the landscape and (until recently) leaving cities behind. But today the pendulum is swinging back toward urban living, and there are many reasons to believe this swing will continue. As it does, many low-density suburbs and McMansion subdivisions, including some that are lovely and affluent today, may become what inner cities became in the 1960s and ’70s—slums characterized by poverty, crime, and decay.

Hat tip: Chris Setti

Annexation, General News | 6 Comments »