Achieving Burnham's Green Vision for Chicago

"'What (research) findings suggest is that urban forestry, greening and green infrastructure, these are all actually public health measures,' she said, adding the minimal investment provides 'a healthier system to live in and then people just do better and you spend a lot less money and effort fixing things that may have gone wrong.'

Jerry Adelmann, executive director of the Chicago-based conservation nonprofit Openlands, noted many leaders are lobbying for the national recovery bill to support green infrastructure.

'We have to reach out to others and create a much broader base and articulate the multiple benefits of the kind of things we're talking about: social, economic, environmental, and so forth,' he said."