October 20, 2010 – (RealEstateRama) — Gov. Bev Perdue today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has selected two North Carolina organizations – the Land-of-Sky Regional Council in Asheville and the Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation in Greensboro – as recipients of $1.6 million each in grant awards to support more livable and sustainable communities.
These two North Carolina organizations joined 43 other regional areas nationwide to receive total funding of nearly $100 million through a new HUD initiative, the Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program, intended to build economic competitiveness by connecting housing with good jobs, quality schools and transportation.
“To ensure that North Carolina remains a place where people choose to live, work and play, we underlined our commitment to environmentally-responsible growth by creating the Sustainable Communities Task Force during the most recent legislative session,” Perdue said. “North Carolina has been recognized at the national level as a model for state involvement in sustainable communities’ initiatives, and it is certainly gratifying to see our hard work and commitment pay off so quickly for two of our regional organizations.”
As part of North Carolina’s newly-formed Sustainable Communities Task Force, the state departments of Commerce, Environment and Natural Resources, and Transportation jointly pledged financial support of at least $30,000 for up to three years for any North Carolina entity that receives funding through this HUD grant program. The cabinet agencies did this to encourage regional planning in support of the task force’s principles of working to improve transportation choices; equitable, affordable housing; enhanced economic competitiveness; support of existing communities; coordination and leverage of state policies and investment; and recognition and support of communities and neighborhoods.
The Sustainable Communities Task Force is chaired by the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and includes members from the state departments of Administration, Commerce, Health and Human Services and Transportation, and from the N.C. Housing Finance Agency. For more information about the task force, please visit http://www.onencnaturally.org/pages/SC_SustainableCommunities.html.
The HUD grants are part of the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities, which brings HUD, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency together to ensure that the agencies’ policies, programs, and funding consider affordable housing, transportation and environmental protection together.
Contact:
Chris Mackey
(919) 733-5612
