On July 24th, Smart Chicago Collaborative will present at the Cook County Land Bank Workshop at the Union League Club, hosted by the Metropolitan Planning Council. The workshop will help attendees understand how to work with the land bank to either buy or donate properties. Smart Chicago will present on how to locate information about properties. We’ve outlined our presentation below the fold complete with a video demo.
11928 S Praire Ave, Photo by Robin Amer
On July 8th, 2014, several teams for the Data Science for Social Good Program presenting their work-in-progress to a packed Chicago OpenGov Hack Night.
I chair the Eliminate the Digital Divide Advisory Committee , which advises the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity in establishing criteria and procedures for identifying recipients of grants under the Digital Divide Elimination Act.
Here’s meeting notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CF6J9L_uG0xCR5AgbC3_IMMfK76lUlo2lxGQOLqQcXA/edit
On July 15th, the Mayor’s Innovation Delivery Team presented their work. The Mayor’s Innovation Delivery Team is a program funded by the Bloomberg Foundation and is working to improve the delivery of social services in Chicago.
Here’s Kyla WIlliams of Smart Chicago talking about our Chicago Health Atlas project.
For the past year Chicago Health Atlas has tracked the growing amount of health data available to Chicago residents. The hope is that bringing all the information together in one place can help Chicagoans start to improve their own health. Smart Chicago Collaborative Program Officer Kyla Williams oversees the project and joins us in studio to talk about it.
Smart Chicago is working with the Cook County Land Bank and other organizations to conduct free training on how to do business with the land bank.
We’ll have a live stream below starting at 10:00am:
Christopher Whitaker and Josh Kalov will conduct a session on how to locate information about properties using myriad public data and online tools. Here’s more info on the training, which is set for July 24, 2014, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Cook County Land Bank Authority and South Suburban Land Bank and Development Authority are open for business, ready and able to work with residents, organizations and businesses to put more than 55,000 vacant and abandoned homes, buildings and parcels back into productive use. The land banks and the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC), in partnership with Chicago Rehab Network, Community Investment Corporation, Neighborhood Housing Services and Smart Chicago Collaborative, invite you to learn about opportunities to partner with the land banks by attending this free workshop.
This interactive workshop will outline the land banks’ policies, powers and limitations and explain how community development corporations, neighborhood organizations, developers and investors can tap the land banks as resources. Through case studies and best practices, as well as a resource guide, the workshop will cover topics including researching vacant properties, identifying financing options and determining the feasibility of projects.
