HUD AND DOT AWARD $22,620 TO CREATE SUSTAINABLE LIVABLE COMMUNITIES IN UTAH
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 $22,620 to help stimulate a new generation of sustainable and livable communities in Utah, 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 Salt Lake City Corporation will be awarded $22,620. The Salt Lake City Corporation will plan for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) around three stations on its central city light rail line, TRAX. The City will conduct an extensive public process, including visioning workshops for each station area along the corridor, workshops to
identify desirable development, and meetings with stakeholder, community, business, and other special interest
groups that represent a broad range of citizens. As part of the vision process, a least one community meeting will
be held to educate the community and partner organizations on the public planning process and TOD best practices. This process will enable the City to identify community needs and concerns and integrate them into land use policies. These policies will remove zoning barriers that discourage private investment in the corridor, allowing the City to accommodate anticipated growth.

Anticipated Project Benefits:

• Increase residential density from 6 to a minimum of 12 dwelling units per acre to decrease household
  transportation costs through increased public transit ridership.
  
  
• At least 30% of the participants in the visioning workshops, issue identification meetings, and on-line public
  comment board to decide new land use regulations will be from traditionally under-represented groups.

Project Highlights:

• CREATE LOCATION-EFFICIENT, INCLUSIVE COMMUNITIES: The project adopts land use regulations that
  incentivize development of affordable and accessible housing within a 10 minute transit commute of the
  University of Utah and downtown Salt Lake City.
  
  
• REDUCE REGULATORY BARRIERS: The project will result in the formal adoption of zoning code revisions that
  increase economic development by encouraging in-fill development and private sector investment.

Grant Type: HUD Community Challenge
Requested Amount: $22,620
Funding Amount: $22,620
Core Partners: Housing Authority of Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, Utah DOT, Utah Transit Authority, Salt Lake City Young Women's Christian Association, Central City Community Council, Downtown
Community Council, East Central Community Council
Leverage: $10,000

HUD's Sustainable Communities Challenge Grants will foster reform and reduce barriers to achieving affordable, economically vital and sustainable communities. 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.

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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HUD's mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes: utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination; and transform the way HUD does business. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.