Sustainable
Communities
,
I'I
-III.
FIVE YEARS OF LEARNING FROM COMMUNITIES
AND COORDINATING FEDERAL INVESTMENTS
FIFTH ANNIVERSARY REPORT
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About the Partnership
On June 16, 2009, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, U.S.
Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Ray LaHood, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Administrator Lisa Jackson announced that they were forming the Partnership for Sustainable Communities. Since then,
new leaders—HUD Secretary Julian Castro, DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx, and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy—have
affirmed their agencies' commitment to the Partnership. Using six guiding principles (below), the three agencies continue
to coordinate investments and align policies to support communities that want to give Americans more housing
choices, make transportation systems more efficient and reliable, reinforce existing investments, protect the environment,
and support vibrant and healthy neighborhoods that attract businesses and jobs.
Partnership Guiding Principles
• Provide more transportation choices.
• Promote equitable, affordable housing.
• Increase economic competitiveness.
• Support existing communities.
• Leverage federal investment.
• Value communities and neighborhoods.
The Partnership for Sustainable Communities is about achieving one goal:
expanding opportunity for American families. HUD is proud to work with
regions to cultivate and connect all the community assets needed to thrive,
from jobs to transportation. Working with local leaders, I'm certain that the
investments our agencies have made will enhance the health and wealth of
communities for decades to come.
Secretary Julian Castro
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
The Partnership is helping us align our transportation investments with the
goals of providing affordable housing and preserving the environment.
Together with HUD and EPA, we are making fundamental changes in how
we work together to benefit all Americans and provide new Ladders of
Opportunity for many.
Secretary Anthony Foxx
U.S. Department of Transportation
Communities know better than anyone else what they need. Through the
Partnership for Sustainable Communities, we at the federal level are
organizing ourselves to give communities tools to address economic
and environmental challenges in the way that works best for them.
Administrator Gina McCarthy
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction 2
Listening and Collaborating to Better Meet Communities' Needs 6
Increasing Flexibility and Removing Barriers 6
Leveraging Federal and Local Know-how 10
Delivering Multiple Benefits From Single Investments 14
Looking to the Future 19
WHAT ARE SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES?
Sustainable communities have a variety of housing options, with homes near workplaces, schools, parks, stores,
and amenities. Having these daily destinations close together allows people to walk, bike, take transit, or drive
short distances, which can save them money while reducing pollution from vehicles. In sustainable communities,
people can live closer to jobs or have easier access to more jobs in a wider region. This diversity of travel, housing,
and employment options helps make communities more affordable, environmentally sustainable, and economically
resilient. Rural, suburban, and urban places can all use sustainable communities strategies to create healthy, safe,
walkable neighborhoods.
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Partnership for Sustainable Communities Fifth Anniversary Report
INTRODUCTION
Interagency collaboration through the Partnership for
Sustainable Communities invests taxpayer money
more efficiently and gets better results for communities.
By sharing knowledge and coordinating investments
in infrastructure, facilities, and services, the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can meet
multiple economic, environmental, and community
objectives with each dollar spent.
Since 2009, HUD, DOT, and EPA have collaborated
to ensure their policies and investments better serve
American communities. Through these efforts, more than
1,000 communities in all 50 states, Washington, D.C.,
and Puerto Rico have received more than $4 billion in
grants and technical assistance to help them grow and
improve their quality of life.
This publication summarizes some significant policy
changes and collaborations and how they have made a
difference in communities over the past five years. The
Partnership's work has driven not only HUD, DOT, and
EPA, but also other federal agencies to make lasting
policy changes that will use resources more effectively
and improve how agencies work with communities for
years to come. The publication also looks at critical issues
facing our nation in the future and how the Partnership
can help communities take advantage of opportunities
and overcome challenges.
Many of our communities and housing options, built
for a different time, are not what Americans want today.
Research from the real estate industry shows that more
people want to live in more convenient, walkable
neighborhoods (Figure 1). A National Association of
Realtors survey showed that half of Americans prefer a
neighborhood with a variety of housing types, including
multifamily and single-family homes; shops, restaurants,
and amenities within walking distance; and nearby
public transportation over a neighborhood with only
single-family homes and few transportation options
besides driving.1 Walkable communities are particularly
important to millennials,2 who make up the largest
percentage of the U.S. population; one research firm
estimates that about 70 percent of them see walkability
as "important" or "vital" when choosing a home.3
1 National Association of Realtors. "National Community Preference Survey."
October 2013. p. 28. www.realtor.org/sites/default/files/reports/2013/2013-
community-preference-analysis-slides.pdf.
2 Millennials, also known as Generation Y, are those born between 1981 and 1999.
3 Duggal, Melina. "Design Trends That Capture Generation Y." Presentation of
RCLCO research. NAHB International Builders' Show, Jan. 12, 2011.
WHAT AMERICANS WANT IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS
50%
PREFER A NEIGHBORHOOD WITH A VARIETY OF
HOUSING OPTIONS, SHOPS, AND AMENITIES
NEAR HOMES AND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
WHAT DO PEOPLE WANT MORE OF IN THEIR CURRENT NEIGHBORHOODS?
48% 46% 45% 42%
O1O
MORE SAFE
BIKE ROUTES
MORE HOMES
FOR PEOPLE
WITH LOWER
INCOMES
MORE PUBLIC
TRANSPORTATION
WITHIN AN EASY
WALK
MORE SHOPS AND
RESTAURANTS
WITHIN AN
EASY WALK
Figure 1: Many Americans prefer to live in more convenient, walkable neighborhoods. Source: National Association of Realtors 2013.
Introduction
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Partnership for Sustainable Communities Fifth Anniversary Report
Since 2000, Americans have seen their combined
costs for housing and transportation grow faster
than household income (Figure 2). This trend
disproportionately affects households at or below median
income. Housing and transportation costs combined
account for nearly half of total income for median-
income households and an even greater share for
moderate-income (between 50 to 100 percent of median
income) households (Figure 3).4
The complex challenges in many struggling communities
need comprehensive, integrated solutions. Safe, decent,
and affordable housing; reliable transportation options;
and a clean, healthy environment are fundamental
to a person's ability to lift him- or herself into a better
life. These resources are rungs on the "ladders of
opportunity" that help lower-income Americans reach
the middle class. The Partnership's work supports these
ladders of opportunity in many ways. Making sure that
low-income people have access to reliable and affordable
transportation options lets them reach more education
and job opportunities and gives businesses a larger pool
of workers. Encouraging investment and revitalization in
underserved neighborhoods can bring new, affordable
homes while creating jobs constructing or repairing
4 Mickey, Robert, si al. Losing Ground: The Struggle of Moderate-Income
Households to Afford the Rising Costs of Housing and Transportation. The
Center for Housing Policy and the Center for Neighborhood Technology. 2012.
www.nhc. org/media/files/LosingGround_ 10_2012.pdf.
From 2000 to 2010
HOUSING + TRANSPORTATION COSTS
HOUSEHOLD INCOME
%
GROWTH
Figure 2: From 2000 to 2010, combined housing and transportation
costs rose more than household income. Source: Mickey 2012.
buildings and infrastructure. The community-driven
solutions that Partnership investments support can help
address environmental justice and social equity issues by
giving everyone, including traditionally underrepresented
groups, the chance to get involved in identifying
environmental, economic, and social challenges; crafting
a vision for the future; and implementing fair solutions.
HOW MUCH OF TOTAL HOUSEHOLD INCOME DO AMERICAN HOUSEHOLDS*
SPEND ON COMBINED HOUSING AND TRANSPORTATION COSTS?
MODERATE INCOME
Average Income: $44,566
Annual Transportation: $11,912
Annual Housing: $14,170
Combined H+T: $26,083
| Transportation Costs
48%
MEDIAN INCOME
Average Income: $63,540
Annual Transportation: $13,070
Annual Housing: $17,226
Combined H+T: $30,296
Housing Costs
ABOVE-MEDIAN INCOME
Average Income: $107,834
Annual Transportation: $14,487
Annual Housing: $21,373
Combined H+T: $35,860
*25 Largest Metropolitan Areas
Figure 3: Combined housing and transportation costs make up a larger percentage of household income for lower-income households.
Source: Mickey 2012.
Introduction
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Partnership for Sustainable Communities Fifth Anniversary Report
Americans want new choices—and both the public
and private sectors have roles in meeting this
demand. Builders and developers need the freedom
to provide the diversity of homes and neighborhoods
that Americans want, and communities need more
flexibility and support from the federal government.
The Partnership is responding by reducing barriers
and changing programs to make sure they support
what communities want. For example, several agency
programs now regularly consult each other before
making decisions on place-based grant and technical
assistance awards. This coordination helps to align
federal investments in housing, transportation, and
environmental protection to fund projects identified
through community-driven planning processes. It helps
to reduce duplication across programs and deliver
multiple benefits from single investments. Sharing
expertise and information across the three agencies
helps the federal government make better-informed
decisions, use scarce resources more effectively, and
leverage investments across agencies so that taxpayer
dollars pay dividends for years to come.
The Partnership has demonstrated the value of
collaboration, serving as a model for other interagency
efforts that also aim to help communities prosper.
Other federal partnerships, such as the Strong Cities,
Strong Communities Initiative;5 the Urban Waters
5 The Strong Cities, Strong Communities Initiative coordinates federal programs
and investments to spark economic growth in distressed areas and improve
cooperation among community organizations, local leadership, and the
federal government. For more information, see: HUD. "Strong Cities, Strong
Communities Initiative (SC2)." www.huduser.org/portal/sc2/home.html.
Accessed Jun. 4, 2014.
Federal Partnership;6 and America's Great Outdoors,7
share the Partnership's place-based focus and close
coordination. All of these efforts are grounded in the
belief that taxpayers benefit when federal investments
are coordinated, and that federal efforts can be
improved through strong stakeholder engagement.
Achieving the meaningful, lasting change that the
Partnership strives to attain is challenging, but in
times of limited resources, it is critical to eliminate
redundancies, make the most of our resources, and
ensure federal investments achieve multiple benefits for
communities. When the federal government coordinates
its efforts and shares its know-how across agencies,
everyone wins: households save money; communities
can use their limited resources more efficiently and
better compete for jobs and talent; and our land, air,
and water are better protected and preserved.
6 The Urban Waters Federal Partnership helps urban communities, particularly
those that are overburdened or economically distressed, reconnect with
their waterways by improving coordination among federal agencies and
collaborating with community-led revitalization efforts. For more information,
see: EPA. "Urban Waters Federal Partnership." www.urbanwaters.gov.
Accessed Jun. 4, 2014.
7 America's Great Outdoors supports community-led, grassroots conservation
initiatives by reworking inefficient policies and making the federal government a
better partner with states, tribes, and local communities. For more information,
see: U.S. Department of the Interior. "America's Great Outdoors."
www.doi.gov/americasgreatoutdoors/mdex.cfm. Accessed Jun. 4, 2014.
Introduction
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Partnership for Sustainable Communities Fifth Anniversary Report
Examples of Competitive Grant and Technical Assistance Programs Developed and Reviewed Jointly by the
Partnership Agencies
Program
TIGER Capital Grants
FTA8Livabilityand
Alternative Analysis
Choice Neighborhoods
Implementation Grants
Sustainable Communities
Regional Planning Grants
HUD Community Challenge
/TIGER Planning Grants
Transportation, Community,
and System Preservation
Program
Community Challenge Grants
Choice Neighborhoods
Planning Grants
Brownfields Area-Wide
Planning Grants
Building Blocks for
Sustainable Communities
Smart Growth
Implementation Assistance10
Greening America's Capitals
Partnership Brownfields
Pilots
Totals
Year
2009-2013
2010-2011
2010-2012
2010-2011
2010
2011
2011
2010-2013
201 0& 201 3
2011-2013
2009-2013
2010-2013
2012
Lead
Agency
DOT
DOT
HUD
HUD
HUD & DOT
DOT
HUD
HUD
EPA
EPA
EPA
EPA
EPA
Number of
Applicants
4,605
722
84
416
766
715
267
314
239
1,029
542
77
25"
9,801
Total Funding
Requested
$112.6 billion
$4.3 billion
$860 million
$674 million
$1.3 billion9
$1.4 billion
$408 million
$75 million
$42.9 million
$15.4 million
$31.5 million
$6.1 million
$2.5 million
$121.7 billion
Number
Selected
270
165
9
74
61
65
27
56
43
224
48
19
5
1,066
Total Funding
Issued
$3.5 billion
$494 million
$231. 6 million
$165.1 million
$68 million
$56.7 million
$28.6 million
$16.9 million
$8 million
$3.3 million
$1.5 million
$1.5 million
$0.5 million
$4.6 billion
8 FTA stands for Federal Transit Administration.
9 This figure represents only funding requested from HUD.
10 The Smart Growth Implementation Assistance Program began in 2005 but became a Partnership program in 2009. The figures here are only for projects conducted under
the Partnership. The dollar figures are an estimate of Office of Sustainable Communities funding only and do not include any additional EPA or other federal funds.
11 Projects were nominated by EPA regions.
Introduction
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Partnership for Sustainable Communities Fifth Anniversary Report
LISTENING AND COLLABORATING TO BETTER MEET COMMUNITIES7 NEEDS
By working together and listening to the needs of
communities, states, regional entities, and tribes, the
Partnership agencies have begun to change the way
they work to make more efficient and meaningful
investments. These changes will let the agencies more
effectively help communities grow in ways that support
residents, local economies, and regional ecosystems.
While some of the changes described below reflect the
actions of only one agency, they were informed by
the close coordination across agencies made possible
by the Partnership. The agency changes fall into three
general categories:
• Increasing flexibility and removing barriers.
• Leveraging federal and local know-how.
• Delivering multiple benefits from single investments.
Increasing Flexibility and Removing Barriers
To make it easier for communities to implement their
own visions for growth, the Partnership agencies made
programs and guidance more flexible. The agencies
also removed barriers that could inhibit developers from
investing in communities.
Clarifying Bicycle and Pedestrian Guidelines
In addition to promoting physical activity, encouraging
walking and biking helps reduce pollution from vehicles
and provides inexpensive transportation options that are
particularly important for low-income people. Narrow
interpretations of national design guidelines prevented
communities from implementing connected bicycle and
pedestrian networks, despite new design resources that
demonstrated their viability and benefits. On August 20,
2013, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA),
part of DOT, signaled the agency's support for a flexible
approach to pedestrian and bicycle facility design in a
memorandum12 designating specific resources that can
inform the design of safe, comfortable pedestrian and
bicycle facilities that fit their community context.13 The
Figure 4: Separated, clearly marked bike lanes protect bicyclists and
can encourage people to bike. A survey found that 80 percent of
residents in the neighborhood around this bike lane, on 15th Street,
NW, in Washington, D.C., thought it was a "valuable asset.""
memorandum also highlights buffered and colored bike
lanes (Figure 4) as successful examples of innovative
treatments that have been introduced, in part, through
the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices15
experimentation process. The endorsement received
supportive feedback from the bicycle and pedestrian
community, as well as stakeholder groups involved
in sustainability work. For instance, the Wisconsin
Department of Transportation is incorporating the design
flexibility memo in its own guidance. By clarifying its
support for well-designed, well-connected bicycle and
pedestrian facilities, DOT gave local transportation
officials greater certainty and more flexibility to connect
bicycle and pedestrian networks and craft plans that meet
their communities' goals.
12 FHWA. "Bicycle and Pedestrian Facility Design Flexibility." Aug. 20, 2013. www.
fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bicycle_pedestrian/guidance/design_guidance/
designjlexibility. dm.
13 The memo designates the American Association of State Highway
Transportation Officials' Guide for the Planning, Design, and Operation of
Pedestrian Facilities and Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities as
the primary national resources for pedestrian and bicycle facility design and
also highlights the National Association of City Transportation Officials' Urban
Bikeway Design Guide and the Institute of Transportation Engineers' Designing
Urban Walkable Thoroughfares. Links to all these resources can be found in the
FHWA memo in the previous footnote.
14 Kittelson & Associates, et al. District Department of Transportation Bicycle
Facility Evaluation: Summary of Evaluation and Recommendations. District
Department of Transportation. 2012.
15 FHWA. Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. May 2012. http://mutcd.fhwa.
dot.gov.ns manual, which FHWA has administered since 1971, is a compilation
of national standards for all traffic control devices, including road markings,
highway signs, and traffic signals.
Listening and Collaborating to Better Meet Communities' Needs
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Partnership for Sustainable Communities Fifth Anniversary Report
Making it Easier to Use Hazard Mitigation Funds
on Brownfield Sites
EPA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) worked together to resolve a longstanding
obstacle facing communities that wanted to redevelop their
brownfield properties. This policy issue first came to light
while trying to identify Partnership project opportunities in
ERA's Great Lakes region. FEMAs policies had previously
been so strict that any contamination would render a
property that was otherwise suitable for reuse ineligible for
FEMAs Hazard Mitigation Grant Program,16 even if the
state environmental protection agency had already cleared
the property through its own cleanup program. EPA and
FEMAs different definitions of "clean" created an obstacle
16 The program "provides grants to states and local governments to implement
long-term hazard mitigation measures after a major disaster declaration." See:
FEMA. "Hazard Mitigation Grant Program." www.fema.gov/hazard-mitigation-
grant-program. Accessed May 29, 2014.
to site reuse and had a chilling effect for state emergency
management agencies interested in working on brownfield
sites, an issue these state agencies had highlighted for
years. ERA's involvement provided the additional support
necessary for FEMA to change its contamination policy.
FEMAs Hazard Mitigation Assistance Guidance update,
released July 12, 2013, includes a new Hazardous
Materials policy that aligns FEMA and EPA perspectives
on contamination.17 This FEMA policy update removes
a longtime obstacle to brownfield communities accessing
FEMA Hazard Mitigation grants and provides more
resources to communities seeking to reuse former
brownfield properties.
17 FEMA. Addendum to the Hazard Mitigation Assistance Unified Guidance.
2m3.www.fema.gov/media-library-data/8b1146445c5833a6e5baf82cf1071a8f/
FINAL_Addendum_082813_508.pdf.
WHAT THE PARTNERSHIP MEANS TO US
Kalima Rose, Senior Director, PolicyLink Center for Infrastructure Equity, PolicyLink
PolicyLink (www.policylink.org), a national research and action institute advancing economic and social equity,
provides technical assistance to HUD and EPA grantees under the HUD and EPA Capacity Building for Sustainable
Communities Program.
We help grantees incorporate social equity outcomes into their work. Regional planning organizations are usually
not familiar with working with communities of color. We help them work with these communities in authentic ways
and include their preferences in plans and implementation. I think providing technical assistance on equity has been
a really enhanced aspect of the Partnership that has added a lot of value to the grantees.
For example, the Bay Area in California, the Twin Cities in Minnesota, and others used the funding to do research,
public engagement, and design. They did a deep analysis of where the low-income communities are and their
access to transit, affordable housing, middle-income jobs, and job training systems. Social equity issues were deeply
examined. There is now a plan for implementing changes in these areas. In Eugene, Oregon, and New Orleans,
Louisiana, they are developing transit. The bus lines don't run at the hours many low-income shift workers need
them to, and the grantees are working to change that.
Having the Partnership agencies work together has been helpful. EPA, HUD, and DOT have been working together
wherever possible to remove barriers and make access to the agencies seamless. For example, the HUD regional
planning grant requires all grantees to do a fair housing equity assessment that includes data on both transportation
and toxic exposure. DOT also requires civil rights assessments that differ from HUD's requirements. HUD and DOT
have been talking about how they can combine the two so the grantee can meet both requirements with one
submission. Meanwhile, HUD has also discussed with EPA how its environmental expertise and data can augment
the toxic exposure analysis.
EPA, HUD, and DOT meet regularly and talk about what they've been learning from the grantees. If they hear a grantee
wants to use both HUD and DOT funds on a project to build affordable housing and improve transit options, and HUD and
DOT's local hiring rules conflict, DOT and HUD have worked together on waivers to allow the project to proceed.
Regulations often feel overwhelming to many grantees. DOT, EPA, HUD, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA), which also participates in the Partnership, have sent federal workers to help the grantees figure out
regulations. For example, on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, they provided hands-on assistance to show
the tribe how to access loan guarantees.
Listening and Collaborating to Better Meet Communities' Needs
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Partnership for Sustainable Communities Fifth Anniversary Report
Broadening Criteria for Funding Transit Improvements
Public transit ridership is growing, rising 37 percent
between 1995 and 2013, compared to a 20 percent
increase in the U.S. population and a 23 percent rise
in vehicle miles traveled.18 As DOT's Federal Transit
Administration (FTA) tries to help communities meet
this demand, it has incorporated the Partnership's
guiding principles into its programs. For example, FTA
updated the New Starts program, one of DOT's largest
competitive grant programs, to evaluate major transit
projects on a broad set of criteria. FTA will take into
account EPA's regional air quality designations and the
dollar value of the anticipated benefits to human health,
energy use, air quality (e.g., changes in total greenhouse
gas emissions and other pollutants), and safety (e.g.,
reductions in accidents and fatalities). The agency will
also credit including economic development in local
18 Press release. "Record 10.7 Billion Trips Taken On U.S. Public Transportation
In 2013." American Public Transportation Association. Mar. 10, 2014.
www.apta.com/mediacenter/pressreleases/2014/Pages/140310_Ridership.aspx.
Figure 5: The light rail in Charlotte, North Carolina, illustrates the
economic benefits that public transit investment can bring. Between its
opening in 2007 and 2011, the system's Blue Line saw development
in the station areas that included 3,500 housing units, 218,000 square
feet of office space, and 218,000 square feet of retail space.19
19 Charlotte Area Transit System. North Corridor Commuter Rail Project Land Use
and Economic Development Analysis. 2011,
WHAT THE PARTNERSHIP MEANS TO US
Megan McConville, Program Manager; Brett Schwartz, Program Manager; and Sara James, Community and
Economic Resilience Fellow, National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) Research Foundation
The NADO Research Foundation has received funding from HUD and EPA to serve as a capacity-building team
supporting HUD and EPA grantees. The foundation has also received grants from FHWA.
As a membership organization representing the country's regional planning and economic development
organizations, NADO's mission is to support economic and community development in rural and small town America.
Our members are working to help their regions grow in ways that are sustainable and resilient by capitalizing on
local assets and talent, investing in critical infrastructure, supporting regional economic development, and building
vibrant communities. We have found that our member organizations who received funding through the Partnership
agencies have been able to more effectively and efficiently leverage those resources into cross-cutting regional
initiatives that address planning, transportation, workforce development, health services, and other key areas.
The Partnership has provided funding and technical assistance for small towns and rural regions to envision their
own futures rather than let outside economic forces define who they are. Partnership-supported planning processes
allow these communities to strategically pursue public and private funding instead of chasing dollars for one-off
projects that may not advance their long-term goals. The Partnership has also created a peer network of regional
and local leaders from rural places around the country who are implementing innovative community and economic
development, downtown revitalization, public engagement, project financing, and other strategies. These leaders
are strengthening their own work and sharing models with other communities, all while raising the bar for regional
and local planning efforts in rural areas and small towns.
The Partnership has been critical in showing that smart growth strategies are not just for big cities or suburbs. While
these strategies are often implemented in different ways in rural areas than in cities, they are improving the quality
of life for residents, attracting businesses and families, and protecting the working lands in rural regions by fostering
long-term, resilient growth.
Listening and Collaborating to Better Meet Communities' Needs
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Partnership for Sustainable Communities Fifth Anniversary Report
plans as part of a New Starts application. Importantly,
FTA will also consider the extent to which policies
will maintain or increase affordable housing—the
issue that initially spurred the collaboration between
HUD and DOT that led to creating the Partnership.
These significant changes came from more than two
years of public outreach and encourage communities
to connect proposed transportation improvements
to housing, environmental, health, and economic
outcomes. As a result, environmentally and economically
sustainable projects are more likely to be successful in the
competitive award process than projects that deliver only
a single transportation-related benefit.
Giving Developers More Flexibility to
Create Mixed-Use Buildings
Mixed-use development combines residential and retail
uses so that homes are close to workplaces, stores,
services, and community amenities. This type of land
use creates complete neighborhoods where people
can live, work, and play and lets people travel shorter
distances to get to their daily activities, which makes
walking and biking more appealing. Buildings in these
neighborhoods often also contain a mix of uses, such
as offices or residences above stores on the ground
level (Figure 6). However, insurance, lending, or zoning
restrictions can inadvertently (or explicitly) prohibit
construction of mixed-use buildings. Partnership efforts
led HUD's Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to
lower one barrier to this type of construction in 2012
when it revised the percentage of commercial space
allowed in primarily residential buildings. FHA raised
this percentage cap from 25 percent to 35 percent,
which gives developers and builders more flexibility to
determine the right mix of commercial and residential
Figure 6: Increasing the percentage of a building that can have offices
and stores will allow more mixed-use buildings to be built, such as this
new, traditional-style development in Rockville, Maryland.
uses for their projects while allowing them to stay eligible
for an FHA-insured mortgage. A builder can ask FHA
for an exception to raise the cap to a maximum of 50
percent. Before this rule change, developers often had
to request a regulatory waiver or "build high to qualify,"
meaning they had to propose taller buildings that were
out of scale with their settings to achieve a viable amount
of commercial space in mixed-use buildings. With the
change, developers can set an appropriate height and
mix of uses based on the context in which the structure
will be built, helping to preserve community character,
and communities can more easily get mixed-use
buildings that fit with their overall development goals.
Listening and Collaborating to Better Meet Communities' Needs
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Partnership for Sustainable Communities Fifth Anniversary Report
Leveraging Federal and Local Know-how
The Partnership agencies work with all levels of
government, from other federal agencies to municipalities,
to share knowledge and tools. This collaboration
helped expedite urgent recovery efforts, use federal
facility investments to benefit communities, and engage
communities with environmental justice concerns.
Working Together to Help Sandy Recovery Efforts20
When Superstorm Sandy hit in 2012, the planning
efforts of two HUD Sustainable Communities Regional
Planning grantees, Together North Jersey and the New
York-Connecticut Sustainable Communities Consortium,
proved vital to the region's recovery. To respond to the
recovery challenges and gaps in local communities'
capacity, Together North Jersey modified local sub-
grant programs to support community-driven recovery
efforts in Hoboken, Jersey City, and Ocean County, New
Jersey, which had been hit by storm surges of more than
14 feet (Figure 7). The Hoboken Green Infrastructure
Strategic Plan,21 created in partnership with Together
North Jersey, provides cost-effective, long-term strategies
for place-based, sustainable stormwater management
and flood control. This plan also addresses the concepts
in the Rebuild by Design Resist, Delay, Store, Discharge
strategy for Hoboken,22 which builds on EPA-funded
technical assistance and other Partnership investments in
the region.
Funded through the New York-Connecticut grant, the
New York City Department of City Planning completed
two climate resilience studies less than a month
before Superstorm Sandy's landfall that helped the
city respond quickly and strategically to widespread
damage. The Urban Waterfront Adaptive Strategies
Study23 identified strategies that can make urban coastal
areas more resilient to hazards associated with sea level
rise, classified the type and magnitude of costs and
benefits associated with each strategy, and established a
framework through which communities can evaluate the
effectiveness and appropriateness of different approaches
for particular coastal geographies. This study informed
20 For a longer version of this story, please see the case study on the Partnership's
website at www.sustainablecommunities.gov/studies.html.
21 Together North Jersey. Hoboken Green Infrastructure Strategic Plan. 2013.
http://togethernorthjersey.com/?grid-portfolio=hoboken-green-infrastructure-
strategic-plan.
22 OMA et al. "Resist, Delay, Store, Discharge: A Comprehensive Strategy for
Hoboken." Rebuild by Design, www.rebuildbydesign.org/project/oma-tinal-
proposal. Accessed Jun. 30, 2014.
23 NYC Planning. Urban Waterfront Adaptive Strategies. 2013.
www.sustainablenyct.org/news/U WAS_Draft_lowres.pdf.
Figure 7: Although Superstorm Sandy caused particularly dramatic
flooding in Hoboken, New Jersey, the low-lying city also sees its
wastewater system overwhelmed by storms on average five times
per month. The resilience strategy that the city developed with
the help of Together North Jersey should help reduce that regular
flooding, as well as help protect against more severe storms.
A Stronger, More Resilient New York,24 New York City's
long-term rebuilding and resilience plan developed in
response to Superstorm Sandy. Designing for Flood
Risk25 focused on preparing buildings to withstand
coastal flooding while ensuring they also support
walkable neighborhoods and everyday quality of life.
Had these grantees not been collaborating long before
Superstorm Sandy made landfall, recovery would have
looked very different. This suite of resources can benefit
other communities across the country planning for
extreme weather or trying to find more economically and
environmentally sustainable ways to rebuild after a disaster.
SPOTLIGHT ON REBUILD
BY DESIGN
Rebuild by Design (www.rebuildbydesign.org),
initiated by HUD and the Presidential Hurricane
Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, aims to connect
innovative research and design teams with
Sandy-affected communities to help them
rebuild in more resilient and economically
and environmentally healthy ways.
24 City of New York. A Stronger, More Resilient New York. 2013.
www.nyc.gov/html/sirr/html/report/report.shtml.
25 NYC Planning. Designing for Flood Risk. 2013. www.sustainablenyct.org/news/
NYCDCP_DESIGNING%20FOR%20FLOOD%20RISK_DRAFT-LOW.pdf.
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Siting Federal Buildings to Benefit Communities
and Workers
The Partnership has helped the U.S. General Services
Administration (GSA), the agency responsible for leasing
thousands of federal buildings around the country, better
analyze its facility siting decisions. Government buildings
can have a tremendous impact on a community. A
federal facility located in a walkable, central area with
easy access to public transit, jobs, stores, and services
allows workers and visitors to drive less, which reduces
their emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants.
It can also provide customers for nearby businesses
and spur private investment by demonstrating a public
commitment to the neighborhood that can make private
investors feel more confident about investing in the area.
The Partnership worked with GSA to develop instructions
on facility siting that accompanied Executive Order
13514, which requires the federal government to operate
"high performance sustainable buildings in sustainable
locations."26 As a result of this engagement, EPA worked
with GSA to create a tool for comparing federal facility
sites: the Smart Location Index. The index is a composite
indicator that helps GSA compare the neighborhood
locations of existing or proposed federal facilities
based on several criteria that support the Partnership's
principles, including the ease of access by public transit,
walkability, and proximity to the regional workforce.
Evaluating facilities on these criteria helps GSA procure
and retain buildings that improve workers' transportation
choices and reduce travel-related pollution.
26 Executive Order 13514— Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and
Economic Performance. Federal Register, Vol. 74, No. 194. Oct. 8, 2009.
www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2009-10-08/pdf/E9-24518.pdf.
WHAT THE PARTNERSHIP MEANS TO US
Kathy Nothstine, Program Director, National Association of Counties
The National Association of Counties (www.naco.org), the only national organization that represents county
governments in the United States, has received Partnership funding under the HUD and EPA Capacity Building for
Sustainable Communities Program.
The Partnership has helped communities of all types and sizes—regions, counties, municipalities. I think one of the
biggest benefits of the Partnership has been in encouraging and inspiring communities to think about their long-
term future and engage in community dialogue around what it is they really like about their community and what
they value. What are their assets? Why are they there? Why do they care about this place, and what can be done to
improve it? For instance, in the Region 5 Development Commission in Minnesota, HUD grantees heard from middle-
aged and elderly people about how they want their region to be a place where their kids can grow up and stay.
I see the benefit of having HUD, DOT, and EPA working together. Although USDA is not an official partner, it was
really cool how EPA and USDA worked together and brought in the Appalachian Regional Commission to do training
forums and work with communities on technical assistance. It has been a good way to work with some really small,
rural communities that would never have known about the Partnership otherwise. As one example, the small town
of Brownsville, Pennsylvania, used some of the Partnership's materials to engage in community dialogues on the
future of its downtown.
Through the HUD planning grants and challenge grants, so many places across the country have embarked on
regional planning efforts. The grantees have brought together so many different partners that might not have gotten
together if they hadn't had this impetus. I think communities have begun to see the value of getting the input of
everybody at the table. They see when planning and investments are made in a vacuum and know that, without
that input, they risk not being as successful. I think communities have seen that when they have not just buy-in, but
also meaningful input from the beginning from different parts of the community—people who live there and work
there—they will have a better outcome.
One example is the New River Valley District Commission in Virginia. When they first launched their regional
planning project, they got a lot of questions and pushback from people who were fearful about the federal
government's role and private property rights. They became a success story because the staff running the grant
worked so hard to build partnerships and explain to people what their goals were and work with the community to
work through their fears.
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Partnership for Sustainable Communities Fifth Anniversary Report
As part of a larger GSA effort to trim costs and reduce
its building footprint by consolidating offices, the
agency evaluated its leased facility in Fairfax, Virginia,
a suburb with limited transit access about 15 miles west
of its headquarters in Crystal City, an inner-suburban
neighborhood with several transit options (Figure 8).
Running both facilities through the Smart Location
Index gave GSA a side-by-side comparison that showed
that the headquarters building has much better access
to transportation options and is more centrally located
for the workforce. The index gives GSA a powerful,
quantitative tool that allows the agency to more easily
identify opportunities to improve environmental
performance and enhance community benefits. GSA
can now bring sustainable location factors into the
conversation alongside core business considerations.
Fairfax
O -
Crystal Cjty
15 miles
Figure 8: The Smart Location Index shows the differences between two
sites that might appear similar on paper. At the Crystal City location, 42
percent of employees drive alone and 46 percent take transit, while at
the Fairfax location, 89 percent of employees drive alone and 7 percent
take transit. Commuters to Fairfax also have commutes that are on
average more than 10 miles longer than those going to Crystal City,
and they are more likely to run daytime errands using a car. All of these
factors give the Fairfax office a higher greenhouse gas emissions rate
per employee than the Crystal City office.
SPOTLIGHT ON REGIONAL ROUNDTABLES
In 2013 and 2014, the Partnership held 21 regional roundtable
discussions around the country to share lessons learned by
communities and to engage stakeholders to help shape future
Partnership efforts. Federal, state, and local officials; tribal
representatives; business leaders; nonprofit and philanthropic
partners; community representatives; and members of the public
came together to discuss how federal policies and programs
could best support local efforts to build resilient, prosperous
communities. The events strengthened relationships between
local and federal officials, increased collaboration among federal
agencies, and helped jumpstart local projects.
Roundtable participants emphasized:
• The value of making collaborative, interagency approaches
the new way of doing business.
• The many benefits that a single project or investment can
achieve.
• Support for federal agencies' efforts to streamline and
harmonize their requirements and regulations.
• The need to support projects designed for rural communities.
In Toms River, New Jersey, a roundtable of local,
state, and federal representatives discussed
impediments to revitalizing the Toms River
downtown and how revitalization could spur
redevelopment elsewhere in the area. They
emphasized that state, county, and federal agencies
needed to work together with the township to
remove barriers to redevelopment.
• The importance of public and private partnerships to catalyze redevelopment, create jobs, and improve
transportation choices.
• Communities' needs for better data sources and analytical tools.
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Promoting Meaningful Engagement for Communities
With Environmental Justice Concerns
Creating healthy, sustainable, and equitable
communities is a federal government priority.
Environmental justice plays a key role in an
integrated effort that addresses housing, environment,
transportation, and health issues together. From the
beginning of the Partnership, EPA has worked closely
with HUD, DOT, and the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) to integrate environmental
justice into the Partnership's work and to integrate
the Partnership's principles into environmental justice
efforts. The agencies developed a one-stop shopping
guide for EPA, HUD, DOT, and CDC resources on
sustainable communities and environmental justice.27
The guide has information and links on a variety of
topics to help communities with environmental justice
concerns learn about their role in addressing long-
standing environmental and health challenges and
revitalizing neighborhoods.
This guide proved helpful in Grundy County,
Tennessee, a rural region where 28 percent of residents
live in poverty, including 45 percent of its children
(more than twice the national average). More than
four out of five children in Grundy County schools are
considered economically disadvantaged, and almost
half live in single-parent households. Health issues
include many of the chronic conditions associated
with poverty, including diabetes and obesity. The
county's residents wanted to improve their health,
environment, sustainability, and resilience. EPA's
Office of Environmental Justice convened participants
representing local, state, regional, and federal
government; community leaders; academic institutions;
health care organizations; and more. This effort aligns
with the Appalachian Regional Commission's program
Figure 9: The former Grundy County High School is being
redeveloped into a community education center to improve residents'
health, education, and job prospects.
in Tennessee, which supports Grundy County's
community-driven work to develop local solutions
to complicated health and economic problems. One
result of this convening was new activity, led by a
team of community leaders, academic institutions, and
nonprofit organizations, to turn the former Grundy
County High School building (Figure 9) into the South
Cumberland Learning and Development Center. This
center will be a hub to serve the region's residents
through lifelong learning programs for adults and youth
that prepare them for jobs, improve their health, and
offer educational opportunities. It will also improve
community connections through locally supported
activities and partnerships. Connected to this effort is
the revitalization of the Mountain Goat Trail, a former
railroad line crossing several counties. This walking
and biking trail offers not just recreation but a new way
to make connections among the Cumberland Plateau
communities and a catalyst for economic growth
around natural areas.
27 EPA. "Environmental Justice Equals Healthy, Sustainable, and Equitable
Communities." http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/sustainability/index.html.
Accessed Jun. 18,2014.
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Partnership for Sustainable Communities Fifth Anniversary Report
Delivering Multiple Benefits From
Single Investments
The Partnership helps communities make investments
that not only construct buildings and infrastructure, but
also bring environmental and economic benefits and
engage residents in shaping their community's future.
Making sure that every dollar spent brings multiple
benefits uses limited funds wisely and effectively.
Helping Communities Create Inclusive
and Equitable Places
In its Sustainable Communities Regional Planning and
Community Challenge grant programs, HUD created
incentives for authentic and energetic community
engagement and inclusive governance processes.
Helping grant recipients reach all segments of the
population means that the plans will offer a more
comprehensive and holistic vision for growth and
encourage deeper and more lasting investment in the
plan. To apply for the grant, regional applicants had
to put together a consortium representing diverse
community interests to share in the project's governance
and decision-making. To help communities create open
and inclusive planning efforts, HUD required grantees to
dedicate 5 to 10 percent of their HUD budgets to engage
populations not typically involved in municipal planning.
HUD also required all of its regional grantees to complete
a framework for communities to evaluate and address
regional barriers to housing and jobs. Together, these
efforts help set the stage for stakeholders and residents
of all income levels to be more involved in local land use
decision-making, even after the grant period ends.
For example, the Mid-America Regional Council in the
Kansas City region convened a delegation of faith-
SPOTLIGHT ON TOOLS FOR COMMUNITIES
In partnership with DOT, HUD incorporated transportation data such as Amtrak and transit lines and stations as
a map layer in CPD Maps (http://egis.hud.gov/cpdmaps), a web-based mapping tool that helps states and local
governments plan the use of HUD formula block grants, including Community Development Block Grants. It helps
communities better visualize how transit access can affect affordable housing locations and other investments.
The city of Los Angeles, in releasing its first Transit-Oriented Consolidated Plan, noted that these tools enabled a
more collaborative, citizen-driven process rooted in data.28 As a result, Los Angeles and other communities that use
CPD Maps are better positioned to invest in housing and transportation that reduce costs to households and make
neighborhoods more economically vibrant. CPD Maps also displays the boundaries of Sustainable Communities
Regional Planning Grants, which enhances planning by showing the grantees' locations in the context of other
demographic and investment data.
HUD and DOT collaborated to create the Location Affordability Portal (www.locationajfordability.info) to help
consumers, researchers, and policy-makers better understand how transportation costs affect housing affordability.
The portal features two tools—My Transportation Costs Calculator and the Location Affordability Index—as well
as downloadable housing and transportation cost data at the neighborhood level, covering 94 percent of the U.S.
population. This collaboration marks the first time that robust, standardized data on housing and transportation
costs have been available at a national scale to help families make more informed decisions about where to live and
work and help policy-makers make more sustainable investments.
The Sustainable Communities Hot Report (http://thedataweb.rm.census.gov/TheDataWeb_HotReport2/EPA2/EPA_
HomePage2.hrml) uses various data from the U.S. Census Bureau to give community leaders and residents a quick
and easy way to determine how well their community is performing on indicators related to transportation, housing,
economic development, income, and equity. Users can view charts, tables, and maps showing their community's
trends over time and can compare their community's performance to peer communities.
USDA's Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Compass (www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=KYF_
COMPASS) is an online resource that provides quick access to information about USDA's programs and investments
in local foods. The tool includes a map that notes relevant Partnership investments, such as a TIGER grant for
Detroit's Eastern Market; an EPA Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund Grant in Missoula, Montana, to add space for a
cafe and community kitchen; and HUD Regional Planning grantee plans that address local foods.
28 City of Los Angeles Department of Housing and Community Development. City of Los Angeles Five-Year Transit-Oriented Consolidated Plan and 39"
(2013-2014) Program Year Action Plan. 2013. http://cdd.lacity.org/home_report_39ConPlan.html.
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Figure 10: The Equity Summit for the Kansas City metropolitan area
brought together local partners to help the region advance social
equity issues. The meeting concluded with a commitment to form a
regional equity network.
g based organizations, community groups, the Urban
League, Hispanic organizations, and others working
on social justice and inclusion for its 2010 regional
planning effort. This group evolved into a new nonprofit
organization, the Kansas City Regional Equity Network,
which went on to host an Equity Summit in 2013 (Figure
10) and develop an Equity Profile for the region. The
organization and its work help the regional council adjust
its policies and processes to ensure that transportation
allocations and other funding decisions use criteria that
help more people in the area access well-paying jobs,
schools, and other opportunities.
WHAT THE PARTNERSHIP MEANS TO US
Dexter Muller, Senior Vice President, Community Development, Greater Memphis Chamber
The area around our airport is about 50 square miles, the size of a pretty good city and 20 percent of the city of
Memphis. The airport is the largest economic generator in the state and the largest cargo airport in North America.
It has a huge impact on the local economy. One in four jobs in our region is attributed to the airport in one way or
another. But we've got a race car as an airport, and a Pinto as the neighborhood around it. The infrastructure and
neighborhoods around the airport are aging.
We were always working on problems, but we never created a vision for the area, so we weren't going to make any
revolutionary changes. That's what the master plan allowed us to do. HUD provided a $1.2 million grant, plus an
$800,000 match. The Chamber contributed $50,000 in cash and 900 volunteer hours from our staff and consultants.
The city put in $300,000 in cash and other in-kind services. This made a community effort out of it. Had it not been
for the HUD grant, I don't know that we would have ever been able to come up with the money to do it.
Since we were awarded the grant, there has been over $300 million in investment in this Airport City area and 4,000
jobs. That didn't all take place because of the plan, but the plan points out opportunities, and it's already beginning
to happen. The work we are doing creates jobs and strengthens the economy. The plan and the corporation
show people there is opportunity. There is a lot of blight in this area, so people have to be convinced that the
government isn't going to step back. There has been a lot of public involvement in the master plan process. With full
implementation of the plan, we anticipate creation of 15,000 direct jobs over the first 20 years.
I think the federal partnership helped in numerous ways. We are an incubator for a lot of the principles that the
administration is working on. Memphis is a small enough town where you can execute plans and make a difference,
and it's big enough to have relevance to the nation. Because of our geographic location and infrastructure and
socioeconomic positioning, we are a good test case to try things and then take them to the nation if they work.
The Memphis region got a sustainability grant from HUD for the Greenprint that has advanced the greenways and
corridors as well as promoted commercial revitalization and neighborhood development. The Broad Street corridor
area (which is in midtown north of Airport City) lay dormant without plans for revitalization. The Shelby County Office
of Sustainability, in partnership with the Mayor's Innovation Delivery Team, identified the area for planning. They took
back the neighborhood, and they did it with very small amounts of money. Those are good grassroots urban tactics that
have a lot of application around the country. The grant helped us put a lot of these things together.
Another component of the Greenprint planning was advanced by a DOT TIGER grant. The Main to Main project will
connect downtown Memphis with Arkansas and also construct a bike and pedestrian way across the Harahan Bridge
over the Mississippi River. Once it's completed, it will cross the river into Crittenden County.
We certainly are supporters of the Partnership, which is breaking down silos and looking at how things piece
together between departments. These issues are important to job creation and building cities. It's not just tree
huggers that care about protecting the environment; businesses recognize the importance of the sustainability
principles of environment, green initiatives, and urban revitalization.
Listening and Collaborating to Better Meet Communities' Needs
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Partnership for Sustainable Communities Fifth Anniversary Report
Encouraging More Sustainable Water
Infrastructure Investments
Since 2010, EPA has worked through two avenues
to incorporate the Partnership's guiding principles
into programs that implement provisions of the Clean
Water Act. On a national scale, EPA has included the
Partnership principles in guidance to states on how to
implement State Revolving Fund (SRF) Programs—
programs established under the Clean Water Act to
provide low-cost loans for drinking water and wastewater
infrastructure and other projects to improve water
quality. As a result, this guidance now emphasizes the
importance of funding more sustainable projects, such
as those that repair, replace, and upgrade infrastructure
serving existing communities rather than expanding
infrastructure to accommodate growth.
EPA has also provided technical assistance to states
that want to change their water infrastructure (or SRF-
funded) programs to be more supportive of projects
that help build sustainable communities. In Maryland,
for example, EPA worked with state water officials to
modify the criteria they use to determine eligibility
and rank projects for available funding. As part of this
Figure 11: Frostburg's Main Street is next to residential
neighborhoods and Frostburg State University. The new SRF
selection criteria helped the city get funding for a project that
will encourage growth nearby, putting new homes within walking
distance of jobs, stores, and restaurants.
assistance, Maryland modified its criteria for ranking
projects to be more consistent with the Partnership
principles, giving applicants to the program additional
points for projects that benefit the needs of existing
communities—which includes projects that serve
brownfield sites, projects near transit stations, and
projects in HUD-designated Community Legacy Areas.
Frostburg, Maryland, received these extra points and
was awarded a $1,645,000 low-interest loan to replace
storm and sewer lines on Paul Street, three blocks from
Frostburg State University and a short walk to Main
Street (Figure 11). This project will help Frostburg
revitalize its historic downtown, enabling new housing
and economic growth along its commercial corridor.
Building Innovation Into Grant Programs
The Partnership agencies have tried to use common-
sense approaches to make several grant and
technical assistance programs better respond to
communities' needs. For example, many of the
three agencies' programs have evolved to consider
housing, transportation, and environmental protection
comprehensively—mirroring how these elements are
linked in communities—and to evaluate proposals
based on how well they will achieve multiple benefits
from individual investments. Using a competitive
process, as DOT's TIGER program does, rather than
formula funding spurs creative, comprehensive projects
and leads to additional local and private investment.
Grant and technical assistance programs in all
three agencies have incorporated language to
encourage projects that support the Partnership's
guiding principles, align with a local or regional
integrated planning process, and engage community
residents, including historically underrepresented
and overburdened populations, in planning and
implementation. This language helps make sure that
investments from across the federal government—
irrespective of agency—are grounded in and reinforce
the common concepts of sustainability, long-term
planning, and citizen involvement. Projects that are
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17
rooted in these concepts are more likely to deliver
multiple benefits, consider environmental and fiscal
impacts, and reflect residents' needs and desires.
Programs that have used this language include:
• In EPA: Brownfield Area-Wide Planning,
Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup
grants; Environmental Justice Collaborative
Problem Solving grants; Urban Waters grants;
Tribal General Assistance Program (GAP)
funds; and the Smart Growth Implementation
Assistance, Greening America's Capitals, and
Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities
technical assistance programs.
• In DOT: TIGER, Urban Circulator, and Bus & Bus
Facilities Livability grants.
• In HUD: Sustainable Communities Regional
Planning and Community Challenge grants.
These programs have a tremendous impact across the
country. For example, nearly 40 percent of Americans
live in a community that has benefited from one or
more of the HUD Sustainable Communities Regional
Planning and Community Challenge grants. These
two programs alone represent a $240 million federal
investment in local planning efforts that was matched
with $253 million in private investment and local funds.
Over time, this investment will spur many hundreds of
millions of dollars in new growth.
In addition to using this language in the Sustainable
Communities Regional Planning and Community
Challenge grants, HUD incorporates into its core
programs sustainable planning principles that emphasize
holistic, interdisciplinary planning processes with deep
public involvement to help ensure that its investments
consider not only housing, but also transportation,
WHAT THE PARTNERSHIP MEANS TO US
Nick Tilsen, Executive Director, Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation
Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit organization in the Thunder Valley community
of the Porcupine District on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, received a HUD Sustainable
Communities Regional Planning Grant.
The Lakota people have always been warriors, "fighting for our future." Thanks to the HUD grant, we have developed
a tribally approved regional plan for the Pine Ridge Reservation to define that future. The Ovate Omniciye Oglala
Lakota Planning Project created a consortium of practitioners on the Pine Ridge Reservation to take control of our
lives and our future. "Oyate Omniciye" in the Lakota language means circle meetings of the people.
There is extreme poverty on the Pine Ridge Reservation. More than 40,000 people live here, and 50 percent of our
residents are under 25 years old. The planning process allowed us to connect and convene with each other, including
our children in the process. We created a vision for our future, staying true to our culture and language. The plan
was adopted by the tribe in October 2012, thus becoming tribal law.
The plan has already helped bring $8 million from DOT's TIGER grant program. With this money, we will be able to
pave an east-west road connecting communities. This road is also a route to bring supplies into the reservation and
take locally made goods out; paving it will save residents time and money.
In 2013, the South Dakota Native Homeownership Coalition was created. The stakeholders include tribal
representatives, federal and state agencies, nonprofits, our local community development financial institutions,
lenders, housing developers, and the South Dakota governor's office. We are educating our people on the value
of becoming a homeowner. This is important, as Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation is now
implementing the Model Communities Initiative in our Oglala Lakota Regional Plan. Thunder Valley has embarked
on a historic journey to build Pine Ridges, a mixed-income, mixed-use development that will create 31 single-family
homes, 24 rental townhomes, and 45 rental apartments. In addition, there will be a youth shelter, a community
facility called the Empowerment Center, 30,000 square feet of retail development, a business incubator, a
12,000-square-foot commercial greenhouse, and 30,000 square feet of light industrial space. This project shows
what the future of rural Native American communities could look like and could be a model for sustainable
affordable housing and poverty reduction. Phase 1 of the development is set to break ground in late 2014 or early
2015. The best part about the Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant has been that this is the Oglala
Lakota People's plan for our future.
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Partnership for Sustainable Communities Fifth Anniversary Report
economic development, the environment, and
social equity. In fiscal year 2014, HUD included in
its document that governs all Notices of Funding
Availability for discretionary grant programs29
bonus points for:
• Pursuing community economic development that
creates jobs for low-income people and/or supports
small and disadvantaged businesses.
• Including transportation options, reducing
transportation costs, and enhancing access to
community amenities. To receive this bonus point,
HUD grant applicants must demonstrate that
grantee activities—e.g., planning, construction, or
providing services such as housing counseling—
are within easy walking distance of important
services and amenities, such as grocery stores,
social services, cultural facilities, parks, and schools,
and/or are served by conveniently located public
transportation with frequent service.
• Energy-efficiency activities.
These bonus points have the potential to influence more
than $500 million in HUD community development and
housing funding each year.
Each of the three agencies has designated in at
least some grant programs special consideration for
applicants that have received a Partnership grant tied
to the same project area and can show that the grant
for which they are applying will further benefit the area.
HUD, for example, calls it "Preferred Sustainability
Status" and awards it to HUD Sustainable Communities
Regional Planning and Community Challenge grantees
and high-scoring applicants. This designation can
make it easier for localities and regions to get funding
to implement plans funded by previous federal grants,
allowing them to build on earlier investments. While
EPA and DOT do not use Preferred Sustainability
Status, they leverage existing federal investments and
programs through the Partnership as appropriate in
relevant grant programs.
29 HUD. "General Section to the Department's Fiscal Year 2014 NOFAs
for Discretionary Programs." Feb. 2014.
http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=2014-gensec.pdf.
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LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
The climate is changing. The economy is changing.
The American population is changing. All these changes
affect where and how we build our neighborhoods,
cities, and regions. Many of these changes—such as
new weather extremes, shifting economic bases, and
growing demand for walkable places—can present
unfamiliar challenges to communities. They need
resources, guidance, and innovative solutions to make
the most of opportunities and mitigate any harm.
The Partnership will continue to help communities find
ways to cope with the changing climate, encourage
new investment and economic growth that benefits
all residents, and support rural areas and local food
systems. Every investment, program, and policy can
be a chance to make a community more resilient and
prepared for whatever the future holds.
We are at a point where it no longer makes sense to
make these types of investments in infrastructure and
communities without considering how they will affect
and be affected by climate change. The President's
Climate Action Plan30 and executive order on preparing
the United States for climate change31 direct federal
agencies to ensure their policies support climate-resilient
investments by states, communities, and tribes and to
develop tools and other assistance for communities.
The Partnership's work is helping to achieve these aims
in several ways. All of the Partnership's work to support
more affordable, less-polluting travel and housing
options also helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions that
contribute to climate change.
Moreover, Partnership investments in planning
increasingly consider strategies to help communities
become more resilient to natural disasters and other
30 Executive Office of the President. The Presidents Climate Action Plan, 2013.
www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/image/president27sclimateactionplan.pdf.
31 Executive Order 13653—Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate
Change. Federal Register. Vol. 79, No. 215. Nov. 6, 2013.
www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-11-06/pdf/2013-26785.pdf.
impacts of climate change. For example, EPA is working
with HUD, DOT, FEMA, and other federal agencies
on technical assistance projects that will develop new
strategies and tools communities can use to reduce
their impact on the climate as well as prepare for the
increasing extreme weather we are already seeing.
Through the Partnership, DOT and EPA will support
HUD's efforts to award nearly $1 billion to help
communities plan and implement resilient disaster
recovery approaches. This work will help demonstrate
to all American communities how a resilience lens
can be applied to public investments and decisions,
and how new technologies and design approaches
can not only help communities rebuild better, but also
help them better withstand major environmental and
economic shocks.
HUD, DOT, and EPA will continue to help communities
make better informed and more strategic housing,
transportation, and infrastructure investments that
can provide ladders of opportunity to help residents
improve their lives. For example, HUD is finalizing
its Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule, which
will ensure that affordable housing opportunities are
considered on a regional basis and therefore are closer
to regional job centers. DOT will coordinate that rule
with its own work to promote connectivity and measure
multimodal access in communities, including examining
tools to improve the planning process and metrics to
track connectivity between centers of employment,
education, services, and residences. Together, these
activities will help communities determine how their
development patterns and transportation networks
help or hinder access to affordable housing, job
opportunities, and essential services. Other efforts
will continue to focus on equipping communities with
the tools they need to ensure that investments save
households money, increase access to good jobs, and
reduce inequity in our communities.
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Partnership for Sustainable Communities Fifth Anniversary Report
In their various programs working in communities,
the Partnership agencies have seen rising interest in
promoting local food sources. Many communities want
to encourage locally grown food to support farmers,
make healthy food more accessible, preserve their
agricultural heritage, or spur revitalization. EPA, DOT,
and USDA, along with the Appalachian Regional
Commission and the Delta Regional Authority,
launched the Local Foods, Local Places Program in
2014 to encourage more sustainable communities
by promoting local foods. The technical assistance
program will help communities create more economic
opportunities for local farmers and businesses, make it
easier for people to get local food, and use local food
enterprises such as farmers' markets or community
kitchens to revitalize main streets and downtowns.
This program aims to find effective strategies that
communities around the country will be able to use to
spur local businesses, help people eat healthier, and
bring new life to communities.
The Partnership is supporting implementation of a
section of the 2014 Farm Bill32 that authorizes USDA to
set aside up to 10 percent of funds from certain Rural
Development programs to support projects that help
implement a region's strategic community and economic
development plan. This new authority is consistent with
the Partnership's principles and will ensure that federal
investments made with this authority are aligned with
communities' visions and plans for the future. Programs
to which this new authority applies include grants,
loans, and loan guarantees to support community
facilities such as hospitals, health clinics, schools, and
community centers; to build water and wastewater
infrastructure; to support rural business development:
and to increase economic development capacity. The
Partnership agencies will support USDA by reaching
out to communities that have regional plans that would
be eligible for funding and by seeking to leverage other
Partnership programs as USDA begins implementing this
section of the Farm Bill in the coming years.
As the Partnership demonstrates, coordinated federal
investments can and must deliver multiple benefits. The
Partnership will continue to focus on ways to increase
flexibility, align federal policies, and reduce barriers
to help all communities—large and small, urban and
rural—have a healthy and economically vibrant future.
The Partnership for Sustainable Communities' website
has much more information, including case studies,
announcements of application periods for grants and
technical assistance, and tools and resources from the
Partnership agencies.
www.sustainablecommunities.gov
32 Agricultural Act of2014. Section 6025. Signed Feb. 7, 2014.
www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113hr2642enr/pdf/BILLS-113hr2642enr.pdf.
Looking to the Future
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Alaska
HUD-DOT-EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities
Grants and Assistance 2009 - 2014
Note: Some markers have
been shifted to improve
mapped visibility.
Hawaii
<9.
Puerto Rico
Updated: February 25, 2014
Legend
o DOT TCSP
• DOT TIGER
o DOT Transit
• EPA Brownfields Planning Assistance
• EPA Smart Growth Technical Assistance
• HUD Choice Neighborhood
• HUD and HUD/DOT Community Challenge
~1 HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning
"1 EPA Statewide Technical Assistance
As of February 2014, the Partnership agencies have received more than 9,800 applications for assistance, requesting almost
$122 billion. The Partnership has been able to fund 1,066 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico with
approximately $4.6 billion, representing just over 10 percent of applications.
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www.sustainablecommunities.gov
Socft Cover, Left to Right: Denver, CO, photo courtesy offlickr user Malcolm K.; Normal, IL, photo courtesy of Scott Shigley, Shigley Photo; Anniston, AL,
photo courtesy of Renaissance Planning Group; Indianapolis, IN, photo courtesy of EPA.
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