Break The Gridlock!

Break The Gridlock invites individuals in the Appropriate Transportation advocate/activist community to join our Board of Directors.  Joining Break The Gridlock's board is the best way to help Chicago's grass-roots activist community grow and thrive.

Board members serve for (about) one year and will help BTG continue the into it's second year since its re-founding.  The board will work towards furthering the organization's mission as well as growing the organization and its capacity.

Our second unHappy Hour will happen on Sepember 15th, 2010.  The event will start at 7:00pm to and run until at least 9pm at Quenchers Saloon at 2401 North Western (at Fullerton).

Our last event (our very first) successfully brought people together to hear speakers and engage each other in a social setting.  We're looking forward to growing on that success.

This month, we'll be welcoming Break The Gridlock Member Organization Bike Winter in to put on a short Bike Winter Workshop -- a HOW-TO on continuing bicycle commuting throughout the winter months.

A flyer is for this event is pending.

The unHappyHour is Break The Gridlock's bi-monthly social event seeking to bring together those interested in BTG's mission to reduce automobile dependency.  Each event will generally start with short presentations followed by unstructured time where participants can come together, hear short presentations, and discuss Chicago's growing Appropriate Transportation movement.

No RSVP is necessary.

The first unHappy Hour event last night brought out about 30 activists. 

Attendees were treated to a presentation by Jason Rothstein on his new book Carless In Chicago.  Jason outlined many of the bullet points about why and how people choose to go car-free.  After the event, Jason was on-hand to sell and sign copies of his book.  Break The Gridlock bought five copies for the BTG Library.

The first Break The Gridlock unHappy Hour will take place on July 21st, 2010 from 7:00pm to 9pm at Quenchers Saloon at 2401 North Western (at Fullerton).

This month's featured speakers:

• Jason Rothstein, author of the new book Carless In Chicago,will speak about his book and car-free Living

• Update! Julie Dworkin, Albany Home Zone project leader (and resident) will discuss the Home Zone and where the project stands.

Download a 4-up flyer for this event.

The unHappyHour is Break The Gridlock's bi-monthly social event seeking to bring together those interested in BTG's mission to reduce automobile dependency.  Each event will generally start with short presentations followed by unstructured time where participants can come together, hear short presentations, and discuss Chicago's growing Appropriate Transportation movement.

No RSVP is necessary.

On April 20, 2010, one of approximately 4,000 oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico failed, killing 11 humans and disastrously polluting a body of water that is geographically about the size of the Midwest and ecologically as vast and important as a national park.  Oil pollution from this disaster is changing the course of life in and around the Gulf and Atlantic coastlines for this generation and beyond.

See: IL HB0043: http://tinyurl.com/pedsrock

Thanks to House Representative Luis Arroyo and other members of General Assembly, Illinois now joins 11 other states in support of human rights in the public roadways.

No longer will motorists be legally allowed to trump pedestrians who attempt to cross in a crosswalk.  The automobile rein of the road is eroding.

Dear Gridlock Breakers,

Bike Boulevards Now! is a brand new advocacy group in Chicago forming to discuss how to get Bike Boulevards started in Chicago.  Bike Boulevards Now! is a provisional member organization of Break The Gridlock.

Watch this space for more information soon about this group.

There are people in this city who believe, in spite of an abundance of opposing evidence and logic, that cars belong.  They are dead wrong.