In another great advancement for livable streets in Illinois, the Active Transportation Alliance has been successfully advocating for a piece of state legislation that would require drivers to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks rather than just "yield." The bill passed the House last week and is currently working its way through the Senate.

Read the full bill and follow its status here: Illinois General Assembly, HB0043 and SB0030.

I recently stumbled upon Estately.com through the Walk Score blog, and I was really excited by how they use both Walk Score and transit in their real estate search. Estately.com Founder and CEO Galen Ward dropped me an email explaining what the site can do to help with a carfree home search, and I have to applaud him for promoting this lifestyle through his site and making life a little easier for the pedestrians, bikers and transit-riders of Chicago with such an easy-to-use and powerful search tool. Last week I profiled Jill Press, a realtor who understands carfree living. This week I'm sharing Estately.com as another tool in the carfree real estate arsenal and further evidence of the mainstreaming of carfree living.

I want to thank Lee for inviting me to contribute to this community blog! As an avid car-free advocate who is passionate about public transportation, I embrace any opportunity to share my viewpoint.

I look forward to reading the profile Lee is compiling from our recent online interview. If you'd like to learn more about me and my proclivities, feel free to visit www.jillpressbox.com. I welcome your comments!

Jill Press is a Chicago Realtor who manages her work and home life without a car. Born in Chicago, she received her BA in Journalism from Temple University in Philadelphia and remained in Pa. before returning to her home city in 1995. Jill has been a Realtor since 1997 and specializes in lakefront properties in the city. She lives in East Lakeview. You can read more about her experience as a carfree Realtor on her new blog, Jill Press Box.

How long have you been carfree and why did you choose that lifestyle?

I've been car-free since 1983.

I'd moved to Philly in August 1982 along with my then four-year-old son, leaving our 200-year-old log cabin-turned-three-bedroom-house on two secluded, wooded acres in rural Berks County, Pa.

I just had to share this link: http://www.someonestolemybike.com. It's a new site dedicated to sharing stories about bike theft in video form. I really love how this makes biking seem so normal and everyday, as if we lived in a world where there were Bianchi commercials during the Superbowl, and people worrying about their bikes was as commonplace as people worrying about their cars.