1. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities
Rachel Kirby, Policy Analyst
HUD’s Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities

2. Sustainable Communities
An urban, suburban or rural community that has more housing and transportation choices, is closer to jobs, shops and schools, is more energy independent and helps protect clean air and water.
HUD’s Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities helps regions plan and innovate in order to jumpstart their economy, attract private investment and talent and become more globally competitive.
The Federal Government can help communities become more sustainable by using existing financial resources more wisely. Sustainable communities are an important way of investing once and solving three or four problems at the same time. That is the new fiscal responsibility.
We hear all over the country that the Administration needs to re-think the way we plan and fund land use and transportation patterns. The way we’ve been doing it just doesn’t work for most people.
There is no “one size fits all” or generic example or photo of how to move forward. Each community has its own unique economic base, culture and natural resources to work with.

3. HUD’s Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities
A core element of the Federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities
Staff covering a range of housing, planning, community development, and regional planning initiatives
$100 million Sustainable Communities Initiative (FY 2011)
Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program
Community Challenge Grant Program
Building new relationships between field and HQ

4. The Partnership’s 6 Livability Principles
Provide more transportation choices to increase safety, accessibility, and reliability while reducing household transportation costs.
Promote equitable, affordable housing that expands location- and energy-efficient housing choices
Improve economic competitiveness by giving people reliable access to employment centers, educational opportunities, and other basic services.
Target Federal funding toward existing communities to increase community revitalization, maintain infrastructure & support local needs
Align federal policies to remove barriers to collaboration, leverage funding and increase the effectiveness of existing programs.
Enhance the unique characteristics of all communities, whether rural, suburban or urban.

5. Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grants
Purpose of the program:
support metropolitan and multijurisdictional planning efforts that integrate housing, land use, economic and workforce development, transportation, infrastructure plans
empower jurisdictions to consider the interdependent challenges of economic growth and revitalization, social equity, access to opportunity, public health, and environmental impact simultaneously
Appropriated Funds for FY’ 2011:
Approximately $70 million
$17.5 million of the funding committed to regions with a population of less than 500,000.
Advance notice has been released – details at
FY10 awarded $98 million to 45 regions, approx. 30% went to regions under 500,000 in population

6. Community Challenge Planning Grants
Grants to state and local units of government or multijurisdictional applicants to foster reform and reduce barriers to achieving affordable, economically vital, and sustainable communities.
Funded activities include: amending or replacing local master plans, zoning codes, and building codes on a jurisdiction wide basis or in a specific neighborhood, district, corridor, or sector to promote mixed-use development, affordable housing, the reuse of older buildings and structures for new purposes, and acquisition of land for affordable housing projects.
Appropriated Funds for FY 2011: $30 million
NOFA has not yet been released – details will be on
In FY2010 awarded $40 million to 42 communities, over 50% went to communities under 100,000 in population size.

7. Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities Grant Program
Purpose of the program:
Award recipients will form a national leadership network of existing and future HUD and EPA grantees that are advancing sustainable regional planning and development in their respective contexts and areas. The network of grantees will exchange ideas on successful strategies, lessons learned, emerging tools, and public engagement plans.
Identify capacity building service providers who will work directly with grant recipients from the FY2010 and FY2011 HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning and Community Challenge, HUD Preferred Sustainability Status Communities, and EPA Sustainable Community Technical Assistance and Brownfield Area Wide Planning grant programs.
Funds from HUD and EPA, from FY2010 and 2011 – total funds available approximately $5.65 million
NOFA has been released –
Details at
APPLICATIONS DUE FRIDAY, JULY 8, 2011