Published: October 20, 2010
HUD and Dot Award $6 Million to Create Sustainable Livable Communities
Unprecedented joint funding to foster integrated approach to housing, jobs and transportation
In an unprecedented collaboration between two federal agencies, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today jointly awarded nearly $6 million to help stimulate a new generation of sustainable and livable communities in California, connect housing, employment and economic development with transportation and other infrastructure improvements. The joint HUD-DOT funding will support 62 local and regional partnerships seeking to create a more holistic and integrated approach to connecting affordable housing, job opportunities and transportation corridors.
"Today two federal agencies come together to produce a win-win for local communities around the country," said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. "We're helping local and regional planners connect all the dots in their efforts to make their communities more sustainable and livable. These grants will help communities to hit on all cylinders, producing more affordable housing near good jobs and commercial centers which will help to reduce our energy consumption and increase competitiveness."
DOT Secretary Ray LaHood said, "With the investments HUD and DOT are making today, we are strengthening neighborhoods by connecting housing with affordable and sustainable transportation choices. This is a win-win for people who live in these communities because they will have travel options to better serve them."
HUD is awarding $40 million in new Sustainable Community Challenge Grants to help support local planning designed to integrate affordable housing, good jobs and public transportation. Meanwhile, DOT is awarding nearly $28 million in TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) II Planning Grants to implement localized plans that ultimately lead to projects that integrate transportation, housing and economic development.
HUD is awarding the following grants in California:
The Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles will be awarded $2,250,000. The Northeast Los Angeles (NELA) Collaborative will bring together the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles, the Department of City Planning, and the Department of Transportation to create an implementation strategy for redevelopment of 2,200 acres of the Glendale Narrows portion of the Los Angeles River, guided by the policy and vision of the 2007 LA River Revitalization Master Plan. This effort will include updating the 1990s NELA community plan to include consideration of land use, especially industrial and commercial zoning refinement, creation of integrated mobility hubs to support carpooling, bicycle use, and light rail ridership, perform a feasibility study for the creation of a regional food hub, and convene a working group of business leaders and workforce development professionals to oversee a needs assessment and develop training curricula for workforce development. The project will focus on proactive outreach to communities who would not normally participate in the planning process. For more information, contact Christine Essel, at 213-977-1801
The City of Santa Monica will be awarded $652,500. Santa Monica will develop a master plan to transform 140 acres of industrial land into a transit-oriented, mixed-use neighborhood that features affordable, workforce, and market-rate housing, creative arts employment and exhibition, performance and incubator space, strong connections to light rail and bus transit, bicycle and pedestrian connections, new parks and public space, and upgraded and expanded infrastructure. The master plan is a critical component of the citywide vision to integrate land use and transportation to achieve reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reduce per capita vehicle miles traveled, and create a sustainable local community. The master plan will connect the Bergamot Station, Transit Village, and Mixed-Use Creative District to the new Exposition Light Rail, which will connect Santa Monica to the densely populated Los Angeles Westside, including Culver City, West Los Angeles, and Downtown Los Angeles. For more information, contact Nathan Birnbaum at 310-458-8350.
In addition, the DOT is awarding $2 million to the *City of Oakland* and nearly $1.1 million to the San Mateo County Transit District.
HUD's Sustainable Communities Challenge Grants will foster reform and reduce barriers to achieving affordable, economically vital and sustainable communities. These funds will be used by communities, large and small, to address local challenges to integrating transportation and housing. When these activities are done in conjunction with transportation projects, they can greatly increase the efficiency and access of local transportation while encouraging mixed-use or transit-oriented development. Such efforts may include amending or updating local master plans, zoning codes, and building codes to support private sector investment in mixed-use development, affordable housing and the re-use of older buildings. Other local efforts may include retrofitting main streets to provide safer routes for children and seniors, or preserving affordable housing and local businesses near new transit stations.
TIGER II Planning Grants will prepare or design surface transportation projects that would be eligible for funding under the TIGER II Discretionary Grant program. These projects include highways, bridges, transit, railways, ports or bicycle and pedestrian facilities.
Rather than require applicants to navigate two separate grant application procedures that might be on different timelines and with different requirements, HUD and DOT joined their two new discretionary planning program to create one point of entry to federal resources for local, innovative sustainable community planning projects.
The Community Challenge grants compliment the 45 Sustainable Communities Regional Grants announced last week by HUD. The Challenge Grants help to support local communities seeking to integrate housing, transportation, and environmental strategies that will enhance local economic development, provide greater housing and transportation choices, and develop long-range visions for how they want their community to grow.
The new HUD-DOT program also builds on the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, an innovative new interagency collaboration, launched by President Obama in June 2009, between the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Guided by six Livability Principles, the Partnership is designed to remove the traditional federal government silos that exist between departments and strategically target the agencies' transportation, land use, environmental, housing and community development resources to provide communities the resources they need to build more livable, sustainable communities.
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