By Steve Buchtel

Immediately after the keynote at the Healthy Streets and Trails Workshop on Sept. 16, I searched through the dazzled group of attendees and presenters until I found Bob Lukens from the Chicago Southland Convention and Visitors Bureau. I ran over to him and said, "Oh my god!" and Bob replied with a grin, "Oh my god!"

We were giddy as schoolgirls over the Indianapolis Monon Trail presentation, given by the man who built it, Ray Irvin. He enticed us with tales of homes turned trail-side businesses, townhomes with their own trail access, and more visitors every year than Indiana’s professional sports franchises – the Colts, Pacers and Ice – combined. Bob and I saw in Ray's presentation a vision of the Chicago South Suburban/Northwest Indiana region: communities connected, economically enriched and physically strengthened by regional trails. Of all that the Workshop offered, this idea was the takeaway.

From left, Dennis Flanagin of Lan-Oak Park District, U.S. Jesse Jackson Jr. and Lansing Mayor Dan Podgorski at the groundbreaking of the Pennsy Greenway

The crew that pulled it together - Keith Holt and I from CBF, Bob Lukens, Mitch Barloga from the Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Council, Marcus Arnold and Joe Heinrich from South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, Diane Banta from the National Parks Service, Al Sturges from League of Illinois Bicyclists (and a CBF board member), and John Wilson from the Lan-Oak Park District - all know how regional trail development and bike-friendly streets are moving communities elsewhere forward by moving residents by bike. We also know how “Ideas from Elsewhere” are as welcome in the Southland and Northwest Indiana communities as stinky cheese in a church.

So we chose a location close and familiar – the Eisenhower Fitness and Community Center in Lansing. We slated sessions – Shop by Bike, Safe Routes to School, and Penny Pinching Bike Planning -– that tapped CBF's expertise and would be of value to small, modest communities. We added a new twist to the usual "Dude, Where's My Funding?" session by splitting

it into an information session and a hands-on, one-on-one grant-writing session. We capped the Workshop off by joining U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. at the groundbreaking of Lan-Oak Park District's Pennsy Greenway (connecting Lansing with Crown Point, Ind.), and with a 25-mile bike tour of the Indiana and Calumet region.

The Workshop drew more than 50 paying municipal and agency representatives and bicycle enthusiasts from Southland and Northwest Indiana communities, bringing in experts and other attendees from three states. The Grand Victoria Foundation, Robinson Engineering and the Illinois Department of Transportation contributed as premier Workshop sponsors. Eight of the attendees became CBF members, including Donald Nesbit, alderman of Harvey. And soon after Ray Irvin's luncheon keynote, attendees began strategizing about bringing the message of trail-driven community revival to their respective mayors and town councils.

Most telling was the consensus that this should become an annual event. Trails and bike planning can improve the quality of life in the Southland/Northwest Indiana communities as it has elsewhere.

The Workshop was the first time many of us saw that idea sweep across our diverse cities and villages. The thought of improving and increasing bicycling opportunities in Southland and Northwest Indiana has a whole lot of people still grinning ear-to-ear.

Steve Buchtel is theChicagoland Bicycle Federation Southland coordinator