Federal agencies team up on livability project (The Hill)
Two federal agencies will spend a total of $75 million on a joint project to integrate transportation and housing initiatives.
The Transportation and Housing and Urban Development departments will spend $35 million and $40 million, respectively, as part of the livable, sustainable communities project aiming to provide more affordable housing options closer to public transportation and good jobs, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Tuesday on his blog.
The Livable Communities Project was first announced June 16, 2009, by LaHood, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.
“When we announced the Obama Administration’s interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities, this is just the sort of coordinated activity we had in mind. And I am thrilled that DOT is part of it,” LaHood wrote.
Any projects that apply for funding will be streamlined and evaluated in a collaborative effort by both agencies to smooth the process and create a more effective use of federal resources, he said.
Grants for transportation planning portions of successful projects will be funded through the Department of Transportation’s TIGER II discretionary grants program, and grants for housing planning will go through the HUD’s Sustainable Community Challenge program.
“Projects will be considered holistically to better align transportation, housing, economic development, and land use planning,” LaHood said on the blog.
“It’s pretty clear that housing and transportation decisions affect each other, and the best projects build that relationship into their planning. So it only makes sense to build the housing-transportation relationship into how we evaluate those projects for funding awards.”
By Vicki Needham – 06/22/10 01:35 PM ET
