Exactly three years ago today, this Substack newsletter launched. It started when I noticed that Chicago’s safe streets advocacy groups all had great initiatives, but they were easy to miss if you weren’t following each of their channels.
In addition, many of my friends really care about issues like safe biking infrastructure, but had no idea what ward they lived in or how to report a blocked bike lane. They complained about issues with CTA, but didn’t know how to actually do anything about it. Again, these are people who are generally engaged with the world around them and want our city to be more walkable, bike-able, and transit-friendly!
I got to thinking: How can I make it easier for people to improve Chicago?
If you’re not following every single organization that covers transportation, housing, environmentalism, and general urbanism advocacy in Chicago, there’s a good chance you’ll miss a great initiative or call to action.
That’s why tiny lil actions aggregates all of their great work into a monthly newsletter. From walkability to housing density to sustainable living, this newsletter tries to be a one-stop destination to improve it all.
It comes straight to your inbox, is searchable, and remains in the archive if you ever need to find it again.
If you want to pore over articles about urban planning, dive into data and analysis, and decode legislation, go for it! But plenty of us just need a quick overview of an issue and an easy way to weigh in on it. By keeping the newsletter focused on easy, actionable things you can do in 1 or 5 minutes, I aim to keep you from feeling overwhelmed. All you have to do is click on the link and you’ve made a difference already!
I also wanted an alternative to feeling the immediacy of needing to sign a petition I saw in a tweet or Instagram story before I forgot about it or it was lost to the algorithm. Publishing monthly gives us all room to breathe. This newsletter pulls it all together and sends it out so you can get to it in your own time.
We don’t have to be constantly online to make sure we don’t miss something. We don’t have to click on the call to action right away. Instead, we can get off our phones and computers and get outside to enjoy the wonderful city we’re helping to improve.
Yes, sometimes there are truly urgent and immediate things that fall outside of this publishing schedule. I’ll typically share these via other channels (Bluesky, notes, chats, etc.) in order to spare your inboxes.
The very first lines read:
Why isn’t this my regular bullet listed email? Because I’m moving away from gmail and over to Substack to keep myself more organized.
If you didn’t sign up to receive this newsletter, just know that no one did. I am a crazy person and signed up all my friends against their will.
A handful of you know that TLA actually originated a few months prior to launching on Substack as an email that I sent to local friends. I was constantly seeing things on my own social feeds from great organizations advocating for better cross walks or protected bike lanes or bus route improvements, and wanted to help spread the word. No one ever asked for it, but no one ever complained (to my face) that I signed them up for it either!
The format has evolved over the years, but what remains the same is my dedication to spreading the good word of what organizations like Active Transportation Alliance, Better Streets Chicago, Strong Towns Chicago, Bike Grid Now, Abundant Housing Illinois, and more are doing. My goal is to amplify their great work by compiling it into a single place for people to easily take action and make a difference in just minutes.
Some stats from the past three years:
243 tiny lil actions
215 local events and volunteer opportunities
9 actions against ICE
35% of readers who, on average, do at least one tiny lil action each month (why not 100%?????)
1 boyfriend dumped for not reading my Substack when he said he would!!!!!
Along the way, I started sharing events related to urbanism and sustainability. I realized that while many of us are here to make a quick, easy difference by sending off petitions and filling out surveys, a lot of us are also seeking connection with like-minded people.
It can be easy to feel like not enough people care about safe streets when we’re staring down social media comments from angry drivers, but getting together with real people can help you remember you’re not alone. By aggregating information about group bike rides, volunteer days, protests, and more, tla hopes to connect you with opportunities to get out there and connect.
Our summer meetup will be at Palmer Square. Bring a blanket and a snack to share, and get excited to chitchat with fellow readers. Details here:
My monthly tiny lil actions post will always be free, as I believe in those reaching as many people as possible in order to build collective action.
If you find this newsletter valuable and believe in supporting my work, I offer paid subscriptions to help compensate my time spent on research, writing, and editing. Paid subscribers receive additional content each month. I really appreciate anyone who opts for these, and am offering a discount this month to celebrate the big anniversary!
Take advantage now to save 33% on monthly and annual subscriptions.
Here’s what a couple paid subscribers have to say:
I donate 10% of my annual earnings to an organization aligned with this newsletter’s beliefs, and an additional 10% goes to my amazing editor, Laurien Stewart.
A huge thank you goes out to the organizations who keep pushing to improve our streets. You’re the ones doing the great work; I’m just amplifying it.
And thank you to everyone who has ever done a tiny lil action. You’re helping to build the city we all dream of.
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