The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), the region’s council of governments and regional planning agency, and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the Bay Area’s metropolitan planning organization, have been awarded a nearly $5 million 2011 Sustainable Communities Grant by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This $4.991 million grant is one of the largest Regional Planning grants awarded by HUD this year, and the Bay Area is one of just 29 regional areas nationwide that have received the grants.
To recognize the award’s significance to the Bay Area, ABAG President and Union City Mayor Mark Green and MTC Commissioner and San Francisco Supervisor Dave Campos joined Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, HUD Director Patricia Hoban-Moore, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, EPA Region 9 Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld, and other leaders from HUD, local governments and non profits on November 28th in a press conference held in San Francisco. Speaking from the courtyard of the Richardson Apartments, a new sustainable and affordable housing development, ABAG President Mark Green said, “The success of the Bay Area's innovative economy is critical to our nation's prosperity and global competitiveness. As a region we understand that we will only be truly successful if we are able to create middle class jobs in affordable, accessible communities that provide a path of upward mobility for our working families. This grant will provide for a Regional Prosperity Plan to do just that.”
During the press conference MTC Commissioner Dave Campos thanked HUD “for its generous support of the Bay Area's efforts to expand economic opportunities and help Bay Area cities and local non-government organizations create more housing choices near transit, strengthen neighborhoods to attract more businesses, and help the entire regional economy."
ABAG and MTC are partnering with local governments to implement a Regional Prosperity Plan. The initiative will focus on creating middle-income jobs and developing and preserving affordable housing in transit-served communities. The plan includes two major, interconnected areas of work: a community-rooted process to develop and implement a regional Economic Opportunity Strategy to expand economic opportunities for low- and moderate-income residents; and the implementation of a Housing the Workforce strategy that would create and preserve housing affordable to low-income workers.
The grant will be managed with a Bay Area Consortium that includes cities and counties representing more than half of the region’s residents, plus regional agencies, community-based organization, labor unions and local labor federations, regional and local advocacy groups, community foundations, business interests, and academic institutions. This integration of decision-making, knowledge building and public engagement across public agencies, community organizations, foundation, and regional policy agencies is central to the Regional Prosperity plan.
Bay Area Consortium List of Partners
Jurisdiction
Alameda County
City of Berkeley
City of Concord
County of Contra Costa
City of Daly City
City of East Palo Alto
City of Fairfield
City of Fremont
City of Hayward
City of Oakland
City of Pittsburg
City of Richmond
City & County of San Francisco
City of San Jose
City of Santa Clara
City of Santa Rosa
County of Sonoma
City of Sunnyvale
City of Vallejo
Non-Profit / NGO
Bay Area Council
Council of Community Housing Organizations
East Bay Housing Organizations
Greenbelt Alliance
Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo
National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development
Non Profit Housing Association of Northern California
ReConnecting America
San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association
The San Francisco Foundation
San Mateo Labor Alliance
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Silicon Valley Leadership Group
TransForm
Urban Habitat
Working Partnerships
The Sustainable Communities Grants are part of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, which represents an association between HUD, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ensure that the agencies' policies, programs and funding consider affordable housing, transportation and environmental protection together. HUD estimates this year's grants totaling nearly $96 million will impact 45.8 million Americans by helping their communities and regions become more efficient and competitive while improving quality of life. In addition to awarding Regional Planning Grants, 27 communities and organizations received Community Challenge grants.