Chicago 49th Ward

Good news and bad news: Project Censored, the media democracy organization, has named participatory budgeting in Chicago’s 49th Ward as one of the top underreported stories of hope and creative change of the past year.

Check out the new video on participatory budgeting in Chicago’s 49th Ward: If you like the video, register on the website and vote for it in the contest!

The first year of participatory budgeting in Chicago’s 49th Ward concluded last week, with huge turnout for a final voting day. Residents selected 14 community projects for funding, and thanks to strong support from community members and the Alderman, preparations for next year’s process have already begun. Megan Wade Antieau and I have a new…

Alderman Joe Moore of Chicago’s 49th Ward has an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune on his ward’s participatory budgeting process: Spending out in the open for 49th Ward From Chicago’s City Hall to the halls of Congress, important policy and spending decisions have been made for far too long by a handful of politicians behind…

Participatory Budgeting continues to move forward in Chicago’s 49th Ward, thanks in large part to community organizing. Since November, dozens of community representatives have been meeting regularly in six committees: Parks & Environment, Public Safety, Traffic Safety, Streets, Transportation, and Art & Other Projects. Starting with ideas proposed at neighborhood assemblies, they have been developing…

Participatory budgeting in Chicago’s 49th Ward is off to a strong start, with the first phase of neighborhood assemblies now complete. At nine assemblies, hundreds of residents identified over 200 project ideas and selected over 80 people to carry the process forward as community representatives. Spending ideas include community gardens, street paving, murals, bike paths,…

Alderman Joe Moore, of Chicago’s 49th ward, has just announced the initial neighborhood assemblies of the ward’s participatory budgeting process. There will be 9 assemblies, starting November 3rd and running till December 3rd. The process will then continue till March or April, when residents will decide which projects to fund. Dear Neighbor, Around the United…

A quick update on Participatory Budgeting in Chicago’s 49th Ward, which continues to move ahead. We’ve set up a Steering Committee of over 30 community organizations, which has been designing the PB process for the past few months. We’re now finishing up the rulebook, which will include guidelines for the neighborhood assemblies, the geographic breakdown…

Similar to the last article posted, but with pictures: Tough budget choices? Ask an everyday citizen http://today.brown.edu/articles/2009/05/baiocchi By Alison Fairbrother, Today at Brown An experiment in democracy is brewing in Chicago’s 49th Ward. The neighborhood is vying to become the first community in the United States to use participatory budgeting, in which residents directly decide…

The Watson Institute published an update on the participatory budgeting process that Gianpaolo and I are helping to plan in Chicago: On April 29, Watson Institute Associate Professor Gianpaolo Baiocchi traveled to Chicago to help kick-start an experiment in democracy, along with Josh Lerner, from The New School for Social Research, and Karen Dolan, from…