The Obama Administration and Congress are taking unprecedented steps to promote equitable and sustainable communities through federal policy. 

RECENT DEVELOPMENT:

The Obama Administration has established the Partnership for Sustainable Communities to support the implementation of a national approach and investment of resources to make regions more healthy, sustainable communities of opportunity. This partnership, which is between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency represents one of the pillars of the Administration’s placed-based agenda.

Moving forward, congressional legislation is needed to embed this more equitable approach into the federal policy investment framework.  Legislation like the Livable Communities Act, which was introduced in the 111th Congress (and is slated for re-introduction in the 112^th Congress) would help towns and regions across the country plan and implement development projects that integrate their community’s needs for transportation, housing, land use, and economic development. 

PolicyLink is engaged in advocacy for federal policy that would sustain this historic partnership and the necessary investment to support the creation of sustainable communities.

In addition, PolicyLink provides technical assistance to regions around the country that are working to build communities of opportunity. 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently announced the historic HUD-DOT-EPA interagency partnership grants. These grants will invest nearly $100 million 45 regions to allow public agencies and communities to plan for the integration of housing, transportation, infrastructure and environmental improvements.

PolicyLink applauds the leadership of these agencies for creating the framework and resources to address the great challenges facing our communities by planning for future communities of opportunity. Hundreds of PolicyLink equity-advocate partners weighed in with HUD on the guidance of this program. Their best practice expertise informed and helped establish strong equity-focused criteria for the program.

A broad range of proposals – from rural to urban-metro areas – got funded. Two examples include:

• The Mid-America Regional Council serving metropolitan Kansas City, MO, put together a plan which includes strategies that address the fundamental elements of livability within the region, including: transportation choices, environmental health, social equity, housing affordability, neighborhood preservation, community health, and workforce development.
• A rural award to the Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation, which works to empower youth and families through a focus on health, culture, and the environment. Their plan builds on current efforts to work with communities on the Pine Ridge Lakota Sioux reservation to integrate housing, improve transportation, and increase workforce opportunities for tribal members.

PolicyLink will build on its Sustainable Communities Equity Guide to provide technical assistance to regions that will work to deliver communities of opportunity through equity-focused planning.

Useful Resources

See Interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities page, in addition to the resources listed below.  

PolicyLink Featured in White House Office of Urban Affairs Newsletter (paragraph excerpted directly from newsletter)

PolicyLink CEO on ”Our Broken Regions - Fixing the Hidden Cause of our Economic Downfall”
PolicyLink CEO Angela Glover Blackwell writes in the Huffington Post on the flawed construction of our communities and the promise of the Sustainable Communities initiative to help regions lay out a smarter, more sustainable, and more inclusive future. The initiative, undertaken by HUD, DOT, and EPA, “tries to think about a community in all of the ways we really live our lives. We aren't just homeowners or renters. We're not just drivers or public transit users. We're not just consumers or sellers. We're all of those things - and our communities should reflect that,” Blackwell writes. More here.

WEBINARS: Sustainable Communities Grants for Equity and Health

To create sustainable communities, equity and health organizations must drive planning and investments in housing, health, environment, transportation, and other infrastructure needs.

The $100 million HUD-DOT-EPA Sustainable Communities Regional Planning grants and the $75 million HUD-DOT Challenge grants are an important new opportunity to make this happen. Click here to see the Notice of Funding Availability recently released. 

The resources from two webinars below will help your organization find out more about the grants and help you engage more effectively in this vital initiative:

Sustainable Communities Grant Program: Opportunities for Public Health Leadership and Healthy Community Design (July 7)

• Click here for the webinar recording.
  
• Ken Smith, (moderator), National Association of City and County Health Officials (powerpoint)
  
• Rajiv Bhatia, Director of Occupational and Environmental Health, San Francisco Department of Public Health (powerpoint)
  
• Karen Nikolai, Hennepin County (Minn.) Community Design Liaison (powerpoint)
  
• Dwayne Marsh, Senior Advisor, HUD Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities (powerpoint)

To view the meeting archive, which contains more resources, click here.  

Speakers included Rajiv Bhatia, Director of Occupational and Environmental Health, San Francisco Department of Public Health; Karen Nikolai, Hennepin County (Minn.) Community Design Liaison; and Dwayne Marsh, Senior Advisor, HUD Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities.

Sponsored by PolicyLink, the Convergence Partnership, and the National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO).

Sustainable Communities Grant Program: Making Equity in Housing, Transportation, and Jobs the Heart of Your Region’s Application (June 30)

Speakers were Maria Zimmerman, Deputy Director, HUD Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities; Kalima Rose, Director, PolicyLink Center for Infrastructure Equity; and Vu Bang Nguyen, Land Use Coordinator, Urban Habitat.

Click here to find resources from the June 30th webinar on the HUD-DOT-EPA Sustainable Communities Regional and Challenge grants.

This webinar was sponsored by PolicyLink, LISC, National Housing Conference, Reconnecting America, and Smart Growth America.

Other useful information:

Interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities

Livable Communities Act