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Biology 1110: Community Analysis

Contents

Researching Infrastructure and History of Your Town for Lab Inquiry 3

Librarian: Marge Peters
Office: SRC 3034
Phone: (630) 942-2337
E-mail: petersm@cod.edu

Need to know about water supply, electricity, waste hauling and landfills, hazardous material recycling… for your town? Here are some places to look:

Do Preliminary Research on the Web

  • Check on the web to locate sources of information that may be published by government bodies:

Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning: http://www.cmap.illinois.gov/ On the left column, link to "Go to 2040" and Invent 2040: http://www.goto2040.org/uploadedFiles/RCP/Events/Get_Involved/Files/ITF_report.pdf; also look at various Regional Data links

DuPage County: http://www.co.dupage.il.us/ Choose Government tab and then look at such headings as Public Works (well water sources); Economic Development and Planning; Regional Planning; Waste, Recycling and Energy. Also note the quick links to the websites of individual cities, towns and villages.

DuPage Water Commission (for Lake Michigan Water) http://www.dpwc.org "Reports and Budget Documents" under "About Us" at top has Customer Historical Usage data for Lake Michigan-supplied communities.

Your community’s website. (see links under DuPage County). Look for headings like Public Works; Public Services; City Services; Refuse; Water; Planning.

EPA’s EnviroMapper: http://www.epa.gov/emefdata/em4ef.home Maps sources of pollution by county, city or zip code. Note links to sources of air, toxics, waste, and water discharge.

www.Scorecard.org. Website that tracks pollution by zipcode.

www.city-data.com. Useful data on a variety of topics related to population, energy usage, transportation, and more.

Visit Your City or Town Government Offices and the Local Public Library

  • Talk to people at your city or village hall. Staff members in the various areas of city services and planning or zoning may be helpful. Make an appointment!
  • Visit your local library to find city/village profiles or planning documents.
  • There are zoning ordinances that sometimes include maps in the Reference KFX section of the COD Library for Addison, Aurora, Carol Stream, Darien, Downers Grove, Elmhurst, Glen Ellyn, Hinsdale, Lombard, Naperville, Villa Park, arrenville, West Chicago, Wheaton, Willowbrook, and Winfield and, in the map case, zoning maps for the Townships of Addison, Bloomingdale, Downers Grove (North and South), Lisle, Milton, Naperville, Wayne, Winfield, and York.

Check for Newspaper Articles

  • Look for news articles in the Library’s subscription to the Chicago Sun Times (1986 to present), Chicago Tribune (1987 to present) and Daily Herald (1995 to present). Choose Advanced Search to link with “and.” Example: Naperville and recycling, preferably in title or lead paragraph.
  • Look at the Archives section of the local newspaper for your town.

Some links:
www.suburbanchicagonews.com (Primarily Sun newspapers; choose town, be sure to search Archives) www.chicagosuburbannews.com (Reporter, Suburban Life, Press…; choose town and use Google toolbar search; be sure that town's radio button is checked)

  • Look carefully for the Archives or Search News link. It’s not always easy to spot. Most newspapers give free access to the articles for only a short amount of time, then ask for payment by credit card for the entire article. Don’t pay if you don’t have to! Go to your local Library when you know an article title, newspaper name and date. Most Public Libraries have a back file of their local newspapers in print and microfilm form.

Books in Reference and General Areas of Library

Map Sources

  • Digital Sanborn Maps, 1867-1970. See Fire Insurance maps for cities in Illinois from different decades in this database. Detail is down to the footprint of individual buildings in the city.
  • Map of DuPage County, Illinois. 1862. Map Case.
  • Combination Atlas Map of DuPage County, Illinois. Elgin, Ill.: Thompson Bros and Burr, 1874. Republished by DuPage County Historical Society, 1975. Reference G 1408 .D8 T4 1874
    Includes text section with origin and histories of DuPage towns as of 1874
  • Rockford Map Publishers. Land Atlas and Plat Book, DuPage County, Illinois. Rockford, Ill: Rockford Map Publishers, 1994. Reference G 1408 .D8 R58 1994
  • DuPage County Regional Planning Commission. Zoning District Maps for all DuPage Townships. 1995. Map case.

History and Population Changes

  • See 1874 map above which has text section at front with histories of DuPage Townships.
  • Profile: DuPage County Statistical Handbook has 1990 and 2000 census comparisons, with projections.
  • COD Library has histories of some DuPage towns in General F 547 and F549.
  • Your local public library will have a large collection of history and census data materials for the community.

Additional Sources for Background to Discussion

  • Films: Some suggested titles that you can view in the Library include

Chicago Matters (General F548.3 .C4 1998 – 3 parts)
Chicago's Western Suburbs (General F547.C7 C453 2006)
The End of Suburbia (General HT352.U6 E54 2004)
Home Economics (General HT352.U6 H664 1994)
In Growth We Trust (General HT371 .S7542 2002)
The Street (General HE152.5 .S7 1987x)
Subdivide and Conquer (Circulation Desk GE 185.U6 S823 2000 Library Use Only)
Understanding Cities (General HT151 .U644 2001)
Understanding Urban Sprawl (General HT371 .U52 1999)
Urbanism, Suburbanism, and the Good Life (General HT123.U75 2000)

Books:

  • Arendt, Randall G. Conservation Design for Subdivisions: a Practical Guide to Creating Open Space Networks. Washington, DC: Island Press, 1996. General HD 1390.2 .A73 1996
  • Barnett, Jonathan. The Fractured Metropolis: Improving the New City, Restoring the Old City, Reshaping the Region. New York: HarperCollins, 1995. General HT167 .B38 1995
  • Beatley, Timothy. The Ecology of Place: Planning for Environment, Economy, and Community. Washington: Island Press, 1997. General HT167 .B43 1997
  • Bruegmann, Robert. Sprawl : a Compact History. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, c2005. General HT371 .B74 2005
  • Coates, Gary. Resettling America: Energy, Ecology, and Community. Andover, MA: Brick House, 1981. General HT123 .R45
  • Garreau, Joel. Edge City: Life on the New Frontier. New York: Doubleday, 1988. General HT334.U5 G37 1992
  • Girardet, Herbert. Cities People Planet : Liveable Cities for a Sustainable World. Hoboken, NJ : Wiley-Academy, 2004. General HT166 .G57 2004
  • Hough, Michael. Cities and Natural Process. New York: Routledge, 2004. General HT166 .H664 2004
  • Marshall, Alex. How Cities Work: Suburbs, Sprawl, and the Roads Not Taken. Austin : University of Texas Press, 2000. General HT166 .M259 2000
  • Moughtin, Cliff. Urban Design: Green Dimensions. Oxford: Linacre House, 1996. General NA9095 .M68 1996
  • O'Meara, Molly. Reinventing Cities for People and the Planet. Washington, D.C. : Worldwatch Institute, c1999. General HT241 .O544 1999
  • Simonds, John. Earthscape: a Manual for Environmental Planning. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978. General TD170 .S55 1978
  • Trefil, James. A Scientist in the City. New York: Doubleday, 1994. General HT153 .T74 1994
  • Van der Ryn, Sim and Stuart Cowan. Ecological Design. Washington, DC: Island Press, 1996. GE170 .V36 1996
  • Von Eckardt, Wolf. Back to the Drawing Board: Planning Livable Cities. Washington, D.C.: New Republic Books, 1978. General HT 166 .V66
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