Sustainable communities initiative taking shape
Joint US program of HUD, DOT, and EPA will target regional planning, zoning reform, and research.
The Sustainable Communities Initiative, designed to coordinate efforts of multiple federal departments and agencies to promote smart growth, is taking shape. Regina Gray of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development outlined a 2010 proposed budget of $150 million for the program in a presentation to the annual Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) in Denver.
HUD and the Department of Transportation jointly announced the initiative in March. Now the Environmental Protection Agency, which has run a Smart Growth Office for 10 years, is getting involved.
Officials at HUD have made overtures indicating that CNU may be asked to help devise strategies for this program. A working relationship with HUD was established when CNU authored design guidelines for HOPE VI, the public housing redevelopment program that began in the Clinton Administration. CNU also provided training to HUD and CNU members were the most prominent designers of HOPE VI projects. HOPE VI was CNU’s most influential public policy initiative to date.
The Sustainable Communities budget includes funds for regional planning, zoning and land use reform, and research. Gray outlined the budget as follows:
• $100 million for metropolitan area growth planning and to apply federal transportation, housing, and other investments in an integrated way in support of the broader vision. Metropolitan planning organizations and local recipients of HUD block grant assistance would submit joint applications. Funds would be used to draft regional development plans that use the latest analytic, modeling, and mapping tools, Gray says.
• $40 million in community challenge grants would be used to entice metropolitan and local leaders to make changes in local zoning and land use rules.
• The Initiative would dedicate $10 million for a research and evaluation effort jointly administered by HUD and DOT. The goal of the research would be to gauge the effectiveness of federal investments as well as inform private investments and consumer decisions.
In mid-June, EPA administrator Lisa Jackson said her agency would join the initiative. “With EPA joining the partnership, the three agencies will work together to ensure that these housing and transportation goals are met while simultaneously protecting the environment, promoting equitable development, and helping to address the challenges of climate change,” EPA said in a June 16 press release.
In her CNU presentation, Gray outlined $13.6 billion in funds flowing to HUD from the stimulus bill, aimed at energy efficiency/green jobs, shovel-ready projects, and prevention of foreclosures/community decline. Some of these funds may be used to leverage smart growth and New Urbanism. The Department of Energy also has funding available that could be targeted at smart growth, speakers said at CNU.
