H-GAC unveils Sustainable Communities web site

Regional Sustainability Plan

Jay Blazek Crossley, Jun 01, 10.

The Houston - Galveston Area Council has launched a Sustainable Communities web site “as one step in applying for funding for regional sustainability planning.”

The potential grant is a hallmark of the Obama Administration’s Partnership for Sustainable Communities (pdf), which is a partnership of the US Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Environmental Protection Agency.

Intense competition by metropolitan regions across the country is expected for this funding. Last week, at a speech at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas - Houston Branch, HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims explained that while this grant represents a small amount of funding for a federal program, in the coming years a metropolitan region’s success in bringing major funding streams from HUD, DOT, and EPA will be contingent on the status and seriousness of their regional sustainability planning.

H-GAC has set up a forum for citizens from across the Houston region to discuss the regional sustainability plan.

The six guiding principles for regional sustainability planning outlined by the federal agencies are:

Provide more transportation choices.

Promote equitable, affordable housing.

Enhance economic competitiveness.

Support existing communities.

Coordinate policies and leverage investment.

Value communities and neighborhoods.