Houston region wins Sustainable Partners grant

$3.75 mil for regional plan

David Crossley, Oct 18, 10.

Update, October 20, 10: Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan published an op-ed in today’s Chronicle, Grant designed to connect jobs, affordable housing.

The Houston region has been awarded $3,750,000 from the federal Sustainable Communities Partnership, the Partnership announced on Thursday.

The money will be for a region-wide sustainable planning process to be headed by the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC).

“This grant is part of the DOT’s, HUD’s and EPA’s coordinated effort to promote sustainable communities through a $98 million Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program,” according to H-GAC’s website. “In order to apply, eligible applicants were required to form a consortium including cities, counties, and non-profit organizations that combined represent at least 50% of the region’s population. Click here to view the region’s grant application.”

H-GAC Executive Director Jack Steele told Houston Tomorrow “I am delighted to learn that the Houston-Galveston region has been selected to receive funding for sustainable regional planning. This work will build upon previous efforts by many leaders to make a more livable region. Houston has a great economy and a vibrant quality of life; this program can help strengthen both. We are excited to work with our local partners in building a better region.”

At a press conference Friday morning, HUD Houston Field Office director Edward Pringle said “This region had a great plan and had the right local partners to succeed.” He also noted, more generally, “The disconnect between where people live and work resulted from decades of poor planning.”

Among other things, the H-GAC proposal said “There is an emerging recognition that this region has the building blocks to be one of the most livable, equitable, and sustainable places in the nation.”

“In awarding these grants, we were committed to using insight and innovation from our stakeholders and local partners to develop a ‘bottom-up’ approach to changing federal policy as opposed to ‘top-down,’” HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan explained. “Rather than sticking to the old Washington playbook of dictating how communities can invest their grants, HUD’s application process encouraged creative, locally focused thinking.”

Congressman Al Green said “The goal of combining regional housing with employment opportunities, quality schools, and transportation systems has the potential to be the best formula to take us into the next generation of community development. More stable and prosperous neighborhoods will be possible thanks to these competitive grants.” After the press conference, Green told Channel 13 reporter Sonia Azod “If you can marry the housing with the transportation and the jobs, and do it in a clean way, you have a sustainable area.”

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee insisted “This is a down payment on millions and millions of dollars for transportation, housing, parks, and more.”

Shelley Poticha, the director of HUD’s new Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities said, “The response to this program has been huge. We were inundated with applications from every state and two territories – from central cities to rural areas and tribal governments.” One source told Houston Tomorrow that only 17% of applicants received funding.

The program has a set of basic principles for growth that applicants agree to follow:
Provide more transportation choices.
Promote equitable, affordable housing.
Enhance economic competitiveness.
Support existing communities.
Coordinate and Leverage federal policies and investment.
Value communities and neighborhoods.

Earlier this year, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan told the Congress for the New Urbanism “It’s time for the federal government to stop encouraging sprawl.”

Houston Tomorrow is a member of the application consortium. Other core members include Bay City Community Development Corporation, Blueprint Houston and Center for Houston’s Future, Bolivar Blueprint/Peninsula Development Coalition, Inc. (PenDeCo.), Brazoria County, Chambers County, City of Galveston, City of Houston, City of Huntsville, Fort Bend County, Greater Houston Builders Association, Gulf Coast Economic Development District, Harris County, Houston Advanced Research Center, Houston Wilderness, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO), Montgomery County, Neighborhood Centers, Inc., Port of Houston Authority, Texas Southern University, United Way of Greater Houston, VN TeamWork, Inc., and Waller County Economic Development.

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