Our Urban Future Study Tour Video
The Our Urban Future spring break study tour began on Sunday morning as we all boarded a motorcoach which transported us to Chicago. Upon our arrival at the hotel, docents from the Chicago Architectural Foundation led us on a tour through Chicago’s downtown, where we observed public art ranging from 19th-century mosaics to modern abstract sculpture. Our group learned how public art has informed the development of the city itself, and framed the rest of our travels through Chicago.
Cullen Davis, who studied political science while at Grinnell, now owns a development company that specializes in real estate management and investment to make housing more affordable in Chicago and around the Midwest. He gave us a tour of some housing projects in Chicago. Student participant Max Hill says, “what I found interesting is that Cullen views housing as a macro-scale, long-term solution to combat poverty as well as help individuals with mental illness reintegrate back into society.”
We were then welcomed by The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, which is a government agency that’s independent of the City of Chicago and covers all of Cook County. It plays an important role in saving water and building reservoirs.
The visit to the Chicago Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities was an eye-opening and engaging experience. The grand Chicago city council chamber played host to a discussion of the efforts being undertaken across the country to improve the accessibility of city landscapes. Deputy Commissioner of Compliance Joseph Russo and Senior Policy Analyst Laurie Knox explained efforts to make everything, from new residential developments to rail stations, accessible.
The group enjoyed the vibrant colors of the 2,000 plant species on display at the Garfield Park Conservatory as we toured the eight rooms of the third largest public plant conservatory in the world.
We were hosted at IFF by Joe Neri ’84, who serves as chief executive officer. Through his work, Neri has been able to engage and promote social equity, with IFF supplying financial loans to nonprofit organizations targeted at social justice and accessibility to resources.
On our final night in Chicago, we met with area alums for a “back to the classroom” event. Graduation years spanned many decades, and engaging debates emerged. Our focus centered around whether cities should be created via top-down planning schemes or bottom-up organic pres.
We were greeted in Washington DC with a snowstorm, shutting much of the city down. Ellen Satterwhite ’05 graciously met us at Glen Echo Group, which is an organization dedicated to policy advocacy. Glen Echo partners with businesses and other organizations to make the internet more accessible and functional for communities, businesses, and citizens.
Next stop was at The Urban Institute. The Urban Institute is a think tank that engages with economic and social policy research to open minds, shape decisions, and offer solutions.
We met with David Leitson ’16, a research analyst studying justice policy. Leitson looks at the impacts of policy programs using both data collected by the Urban Institute and data from the government. Leitson researches gun violence in Chicago, Illinois.
A highlight of the week was our visit to Verizon where we were hosted by Ed Senn ’79, vice president of state government relations. The Verizon Technology Center is filled with unique displays and models depicting first the evolution of the internet, and transforming into miniature exhibits modeling technologies centered around the internet of things (IOT). The center is used to tell stories — with displays from electric cars and clean transportation, smart farming technologies, to virtual patient care and emergency services. The Technology Center captures all the possibilities a growing global network can provide to our urban future and development.
Our last stop was on Capitol Hill where we saw the inner workings of a member’s office, thanks to Chief of Staff Mike Goodman ’01 from Representative Ron Kind’s office in the Longworth House office building. We also had a tour of the Capitol building to see the unique art and architecture inside the building. We saw the old Supreme Court chamber in which they made where the infamous Dred Scott decision. We viewed the main rotunda under the dome, which was covered in paintings and statues with significance to American history. Finally, we visited the old House of Representatives where we stood on the locations of the desks of Abraham Lincoln and John Quincy Adams.