Mobility Justice Spotlight with the Northwest Side Housing Center Youth Council – 2021 Summit

Mobility Justice Spotlight with the Northwest Side Housing Center Youth Council – 2021 Summit

Host: Jerome Horne, Transportation Planning Communications and Engagement Specialist, Foursquare ITP

Speakers:

• Romina Castillo, Senior Associate, Muse Community + Design
• Jeremy Cuebas, Youth Organizer, Community Organizing Team, Northwest Side Housing Center
• Youth Council presenters: Minerva, Xander, and Jolly

Description:

For far too long, a community called Belmont Cragin that is located in Chicago, IL has been underserved and overlooked in numerous ways. One of those ways is transportation. Chicago is home to over 200 miles of bike lanes, but only 1.5 miles exist in the neighborhood. Belmont Cragin also has ZERO Divvy bike share stations and inadequate bus service. This is not right, and a group of youth leaders from the community have pledged to change this. Over the past two years this youth council has been organizing and advocating for better transportation options for a community that has 27,000 youth under the age of 18.

In the last two years, the NWHC has been working with state and federal elected officials to bring more funding to the community, and they have formed partnerships with CDOT and Divvy to identify where to place new Divvy locations and bike lanes. SUMC is happy to announce that over 11 new Divvy stations will be installed by the end of 2021, and over 8 miles of bike lanes will be painted by the end of 2022. Watch this informal presentation from the Northwest Side Housing Center Youth Council followed by a discussion with the youth on what mobility justice means for their community.

Check out more of SUMCs’ Mobility Justice Spotlight here!

Last updated September 3, 2021