On October 14th, 2010, US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced the selection of 45 regions that will be part of the Department’s Sustainable Communities Regional Planning initiative.  For the first time ever, HUD will award nearly $100M in new grants to support communities, state, local, and tribal governments, as well as metropolitan planning organizations and non-profit organizations to work together to develop and execute comprehensive regional plans that foster economic competitiveness by connecting housing with good jobs, quality schools and transportation.  Many of the grant recipients will leverage existing infrastructure and collaborative networks to make livable communities a reality across the country.  This holistic planning approach will benefit both urban and rural communities across the U.S., with $25.6M going to regions with populations less than 500,000 and rural places (fewer than 200,000 people). HUD is reserving $2M to help all of these areas build the needed capacity to execute their plans.

About a year ago, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) joined the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Environmental Protection (EPA) to establish the new interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities.  These agencies have developed a set of livability principles that guide their programs and policies, and align their funding to better support holistic regional planning and development efforts.

Last July, Surdna Foundation approved a grant to Living Cities, enabling them to develop and implement the Boot Camp on Sustainable Communities. The Boot Camp, an intensive learning exchange, was designed to help a cohort of the HUD Regional Planning Grants recipient teams receive technical assistance to ensure successful implementation of their regional project; use federal funds to work more collaboratively and leverage existing and new investment; and to employ performance measures and project outcomes that drive long-term strategy and management of planning efforts.

Equally exciting for Surdna is that several of the regions receiving the awards and recognition are places where we have invested for many years. For example, the Twin Cities’ Metropolitan Council, working in partnership with our grantees along the Central Corridor, is one of the regions receiving the largest award, at $5M. The New York-Connecticut area and Boston metropolitan area will receive an investment averaging $3.75M each, enabling the One Region transit funders group in NY and the Fairmont Corridor Collaborative in Boston to scale up their efforts in increasing equitable TOD and create a more regional impact on planning. Washington and Oregon, two states Surdna has invested in for several years, will receive $4.99M and $1.45M respectively. For the complete list of the HUD Sustainable Communities Planning Grant finalists, please click here.To review the HUD press release, click here.