HUD AND DOT AWARD $800,000 TO CREATE SUSTAINABLE LIVABLE COMMUNITIES IN MARYLAND
Unprecedented joint funding to foster integrated approach to housing, jobs and transportation

WASHINGTON - In an unprecedented collaboration between two federal agencies, the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today jointly awarded $800,000
to help stimulate a new generation of sustainable and livable communities in Maryland, connect housing,
employment and economic development with transportation and other infrastructure improvements. The joint HUD-DOT funding will support 62 local and regional partnerships seeking to create a more holistic and integrated
approach to connecting affordable housing, job opportunities and transportation corridors.

"Today two federal agencies come together to produce a win-win for local communities around the country," said
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. "We're helping local and regional planners connect all the dots in their efforts to
make their communities more sustainable and livable. These grants will help communities to hit on all cylinders, producing more affordable housing near good jobs and commercial centers which will help to reduce our energy consumption and increase competitiveness."

DOT Secretary Ray LaHood said, "With the investments HUD and DOT are making today, we are strengthening neighborhoods by connecting housing with affordable and sustainable transportation choices. This is a win-win for people who live in these communities because they will have travel options to better serve them."

HUD is awarding $40 million in new Sustainable Community Challenge Grants to help support local planning designed
to integrate affordable housing, good jobs and public transportation. Meanwhile, DOT is awarding nearly $28 million
in TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) II Planning Grants to implement localized
plans that ultimately lead to projects that integrate transportation, housing and economic development.

The Maryland-National Park and Planning Commission will be awarded $800,000. This project will develop a corridor action plan for the southern end of the Green Line of the metropolitan Washington, DC rail transit system. This plan will prepare for the expansion of the corridor around the existing transit stations in Prince Georges County. The plan will assess existing conditions (including quality of life), establish market-driven strategies, and prepare a phased implementation program for transit-oriented development at the four Metro stations. A goal is to attract
new federal and spin-off office tenants and mixed-income housing, facilitated by an efficient and effective
multimodal transportation system.

Anticipated Project Benefits:

• Project will increase residential and commercial development around existing light-rail transit stations,
  and attract federal and other jobs to the area.

Project Highlights:

• CREATE LOCATION-EFFICIENT, INCLUSIVE COMMUNITIES: Project will foster transit-oriented development including affordable housing units around existing transit stations.
• STRENGTHEN LOCAL ECONOMIES: Funding will allow for planning to attract federal and related jobs and
  catalyze new growth around underutilized transit stations.

Core Partners: Prince George's County Department of Public Works and Transportation, Economic Development Corporation
Leverage: $660,612
Contact: Fern Piret, Planning Director, (301) 952-3595, Fern.Piret@ppd.mncppc.org

"Prince George's County is a great place to live and work. I am proud that we're investing federal funds in projects that will help further economic development and bring jobs to our local communities. These resources will lay the groundwork for future economic growth and stronger neighborhoods through smart, locally driven revitalization programs," said Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Transportation
and Infrastructure Subcommittee.

"This grant is great news for Prince George's County. But this project means more than transportation. It means people can live and work all in the same neighborhood," Senator Barbara A. Mikulski said. "I will keep fighting to put money in the federal checkbook for the innovative programs in Prince George's County that provide the jobs and opportunities of tomorrow."

These funds will be used by communities, large and small, to address local challenges to integrating transportation
and housing. When these activities are done in conjunction with transportation projects, they can greatly increase the efficiency and access of local transportation while encouraging mixed-use or transit-oriented development.
Such efforts may include amending or updating local master plans, zoning codes, and building codes to support
private sector investment in mixed-use development, affordable housing and the re-use of older buildings. Other
local efforts may include retrofitting main streets to provide safer routes for children and seniors, or preserving affordable housing and local businesses near new transit stations.

"When I fought to bring the Green Line to Prince George's County, the intention was to encourage development around the stations," stated Congressman Steny H. Hoyer. "I am very pleased that the Department of Housing
and Urban Development is providing a grant to the Maryland-National Park and Planning Commission so that the
area can continue to grow as planned. We have a unique opportunity in our community to create transit-oriented development that will attract federal jobs and strengthen our local economy, which will help ensure a better quality
of life for our growing population."

"As a longtime advocate for economic development around our metro stations, I am pleased to see this funding awarded to Prince George's County," said Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards. "Transit-oriented development is
critical to increasing use of public transportation, creating jobs, and constructing livable communities. I look
forward to working with our local, state, and federal partners to ensure that this project is one of several steps
to bring long-overdue economic development opportunities to the residents of Prince George's County."

TIGER II Planning Grants will prepare or design surface transportation projects that would be eligible for funding
under the TIGER II Discretionary Grant program. These projects include highways, bridges, transit, railways, ports
or bicycle and pedestrian facilities.

Rather than require applicants to navigate two separate grant application procedures that might be on different timelines and with different requirements, HUD and DOT joined their two new discretionary planning program to
create one point of entry to federal resources for local, innovative sustainable community planning projects.

The Community Challenge grants compliment the 45 Sustainable Communities Regional Grants announced last week
by HUD. The Challenge Grants help to support local communities seeking to integrate housing, transportation, and environmental strategies that will enhance local economic development, provide greater housing and transportation choices, and develop long-range visions for how they want their community to grow.

The new HUD-DOT program also builds on the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, an innovative new interagency collaboration, launched by President Obama in June 2009, between the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Guided by six Livability Principles, the Partnership is designed to remove the traditional federal government silos that exist between departments and strategically target the agencies' transportation, land use, environmental, housing and community development resources to provide communities the resources they need to build more livable, sustainable communities.

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