McLean County Regional Planning Commission

An auto industry expert says communities like Bloomington-Normal should think of self-driving vehicles as problems-solvers, not just high-tech novelties of the future.

A new study suggests that if Bloomington and Normal leaders want to create streets that are equally friendly to all types of users, they should start with Connect Transit routes.

Editor’s note: This story is part of a special episode of GLT’s Sound Ideas focused entirely on autonomous driving. It aired Nov. 21. Read more stories in the series.

Government planners believe autonomous vehicles can reshape communities in ways we’ve never seen before. But the fledgling technology creates a challenge for those planners because driverless cars still pose far more questions than answers. 

Kansas City is poised to become the smartest of smart cities in the next five years, according to the city employee leading that effort.

A plan that's "very different" from any comprehensive plan the Town of Normal has adopted before would change, most noticeably, the community's layout, housing and transportation, according to two people instrumental in its development.

Dividing Downtown Bloomington into three zoning areas—instead of only one—could increase the area's walkability, leading people to spend more time and maybe money there, according to Bloomington's community development director.

Bloomington aldermen will again discuss and eventually vote on a budget amendment to strike a controversial sewer oversizing project on the city's far east side. 

The walkable downtown of the past isn't an anachronism, it's a future model for economic development.

A proposed east-side Bloomington sewer project is contrasting the issue of suburban sprawl with the city's own 2015 comprehensive plan, which focuses on infill development.

The Long Range Transportation survey conducted by the McLean County Regional Planning Commission (MCRPC)  late last year is providing direction for the organization's Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP). The eventual blueprint will help guide transportation planning in the county for the next two decades.

The McLean County Regional Planning Commission (MCRPC) is trying to gaze into the future, with the help of area residents. The MCRPC has launched a survey asking people to answer questions while imagining conditions 30 years into the future. 

The Millennial generation is having an effect on the planning for the Town of Normal's next comprehensive plan which would guide the town  for the next 20 years.  Millennials are currently the largest generation in the United States. In the Town of Normal, Millennials age 18-34 make up more than 50% of the population.

The world is reinventing itself from the bottom up according Bruce Katz. The Centennial Scholar at the Brookings Institution and author argues cities are the center of problem solving and innovation, where place rules over party, collaboration over conflict and evidence over dogma.

The Town of Normal is following its twin to the south and developing a new comprehensive plan. The plan, when finished, will guide the Town for the next two decades. The City adopted its plan, guided by the McLean County Regional Planning Commission, earlier this year. And the Town of Normal plan won’t be adopted until late 2016, leaving plenty of time for community and citizen input.