As 2009 draws to a close, we wanted to update you on our progress, thank you for your support, and encourage you to get involved with MoveSmart.org.

When this year started, MoveSmart.org was just a simple blog about a website we hoped to build. In the spring we partnered with the Chicago Technology Cooperative to offer a fellowship to Rebecca White to start work in earnest on the site. The first iteration of the current site launched in May. At the time, it was just the blog and a tiny Guides section - although by August of this year the Guides would expand to include nearly 80 articles on a wide array of topics.

The summer brought great news - we received a $10,000 outright grant and $10,000 challenge grant from the Field Foundation. This funding enabled us to bring Rebecca on half time in August and get the Neighborhood Finder system up-and-running in early November. Since then, our progress has continued to accelerate; we have been launching new features and data sets on an almost weekly basis while at the same time raising funds for the challenge grant (check out our Twitter stream for the play-by-play).

From our friends at the Metro Chicago Information Center (MCIC):

The communities listed above have at least two things in common. One, they're all in Illinois and two, they all have new demographic, social, economic and housing data available for the first time since the 2000 decennial census!

The American Community Survey (ACS), conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, is a nationwide survey of U.S. households that provides vital data and information on a "rolling" basis, rather than every ten years.

MoveSmart.org is pleased to announce that we have been awarded a $7,500 grant from the Field Foundation's Emergency and Technical Assistance Fund. This grant will fund two projects. A prototype of the site, featuring interactive maps and multiple layers of data, will be built by our friends at Placebase.com. Jason and Jaron have been an amazing resource during the formative stages of MoveSmart.org, answering my endless questions with clarity and insight.