This week, the House Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee marked up their spending bill for the 2013 fiscal year. The bill funds HUD’s Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities to continue its operations, though funding for the tremendously popular Regional Planning and Community Challenge grants was not included. Also lacking in the bill was funding for DOT’s TIGER grants.
During a recent trip to seven Sustainable Communities grantees in Texas, Department of Housing and Urban Development staff were able to see new and innovative economic development strategies in action. They visited Regional Planning grantees Houston-Galveston Area Council and Heart of Texas Council of Governments near Waco, as well as Austin, which received both Regional Planning and Community Challenge grants, and other Community Challenge grantees Dallas, Fort Worth, and Garland.
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City Councilmember Elaine Clegg is using her experience with smart growth development to create great neighborhoods in Boise, Idaho.
First elected to the City Council in 2003, Clegg believes Boise’s wealth of natural assets and existing infrastructure can be utilized to attract the kind of young, educated workers many leading companies demand. To accomplish those goals, however, the city must invest in the things that make a difference, creating places where people want to live and where they can walk or bike to shops, restaurants, schools and other amenities.
The neighborhood of Colony Park in east Austin, Texas, is historically underserved and underutilized. Despite previous local investment in new infrastructure and a recreation center, there is still a significant lack of mixed-income housing and transportation options for residents. A new community pilot project aims to change all that. With a $3 million HUD Community Challenge grant through the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, the City of Austin has a unique opportunity to foster a mixed-income neighborhood that could be used as a model for sustainability and economic development.
Photo of the mills of Manchester, taken from the 12th floor of the Radisson Hotel by Flickr user Brian Herzog.
Join Smart Growth America’s Vice President of Policy & Programs William Fulton in Manchester, NH next week at Intown Manchester‘s annual luncheon.
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Tuesday, June 12, 1:00-3:00pm ET. Communication Strategies for Planning Processes. Register here.
Tuesday, June 12, 2:00-3:30pm ET. A Guidebook for Sustainability Performance Measurement for Transportation Agencies. Register here.
Wednesday, June 13, 2:00-3:00pm ET. What Public Transit Means for Public Health. Register here.
Wednesday, June 13, 3:00-5:00pm ET. How PHAs Can Keep Housing Affordable By Controlling Transportation Costs. Register here.
In rural Baxter, Minnesota, HUD staff met with 175 community members representing area youth, seniors, business leaders and residents who had gathered to help guide the Region 5 Resilient Region planning process. The HUD team also visited the Twin Cities and a meeting of 200 community leaders and foundations to look at the progress that has been made on the Central Corridor Funders Collaborative, a group of local and national funders that support the Central Corridor Light Rail Line.
Crossposted from our partner New Jersey Future.
The Smart Growth Awards celebration is considered one of New Jersey’s premier networking events, attracting more than 300 development industry professionals, as well as local, regional, and state leaders.
Awards Celebration
Thursday, June 7, 2012
5:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Newark Club, Newark
Questions: contact Marianne Jann at (609) 393-0008, ext. 101 Registration information: Admission is $150; Day of event $175. Download the invitation to send a check. For sponsorship information, contact Dan Fatton at (609) 393-0008, ext. 105. For a current list of sponsors, click here.