participatory budgeting

A new interactive map shows what transportation mode people use to get to work in each neighborhood in Chicago, while also identifying the share of Chicagoans who don't own cars. Shaun Jacobsen -- who writes the Transitized blog and occasionally freelances for Streetsblog -- created "How Chicago Commutes" to show that many residents will benefit more from walking, bicycling, and transit improvements than free curbside parking, which tends to dominate the discussion at public meetings.

Next year, Chicago will expand Divvy bike-share from 300 stations to 475 or possibly 550 stations, and Rogers Park residents are excited about the news that far north side neighborhoods will get at least 15 stations in 2014.

The results of last week's participatory budgeting elections show that, when you give them a chance, Chicago residents are happy to support projects that make our streets safer, more efficient and more vibrant. The 5th, 45th, 46th and 49th wards took part in the PB process, which allows citizens to propose ideas for each district's $1.3 million in discretionary "menu" money and then vote on the projects that make it on the final ballot. While aldermen traditionally decide how menu money is used, and normally opt for basic street, sidewalk and lighting improvements, these results mean several innovative walking, biking, transit and public space initiatives will debut in the near future.

Residents of the 49th Ward, which includes Rogers Park and the Loyola University Campus, can now vote on how to spend their alderman's discretionary "menu" money. In 2010, Alderman Joe Moore became the first U.S. politician to implement this democratic budgeting process, called participatory budgeting. This year he's allocating $1 million of the ward's $1.3 million in menu funds for projects proposed and approved by his constituents. As in the other three wards participating in the participatory budgeting process, residents 16 and older can vote.

The participatory budgeting process lets citizens brainstorm ideas and then vote on how ward money will be spent, but 5th Ward Alderman Leslie has decided to remove most transportation projects from consideration. The district, which includes parts of South Shore, Grand Crossing, Woodlawn and Hyde Park, is one of four wards where citizens will help decide how to use their alderman’s $1.3 million in discretionary “menu” money this year, and the only one on the South Side.

One of the great things about the participatory budgeting process, now taking place in Chicago’s 5th, 45th, 46th, and 49th wards, is that it encourages aldermen to spend ward money on outside-the-box sustainable transportation projects. By allowing citizens to vote on how a ward’s $1.3 million in discretionary “menu” funds are used, the process provides support from constituents for expenditures that might seem more politically risky than the usual roadwork and streetlamp repair.

Chicago’s participatory budgeting movement has exciting potential to democratize the way city money is spent, which could lead to innovative walking, biking and transit improvements. First pioneered in 1989 in Porto Alegre, Brazil, participatory budgeting allows citizens to recommend projects for public funding and then vote on how the cash is spent.