Beaverton Gets HUD Community Challenge Grant, but Metro Did Not Receive HUD Regional Planning Grant.

Beaverton gets $1 M. 

HUD PR is HERE. 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

White House Sustainable Communities Live Chat on Thursday July 15 at 11 AM PDT.

Event information from Planetizen is HERE. Access the event itself on the White House live website HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

FINALLY! HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant NOFA is OUT.

HUD PR is HERE. 

NOFA page is HERE; 68 page program section of the NOFA is HERE.

Rating Factors are summarized on PDF page 61, closing date for application is August 23, 2010.

HUD Sustainable Communities Website is HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog. 

Tease: Form with Rating Factors for HUD Sustainability Grant.

HUD recently published a FR Notice of the rating factors form it is planning on using for the HUD Sustainable Communities Planning Grant NOFA. I have obtained a DRAFT copy of this form, and as a prelude to the publication of the actual NOFA; HERE is that draft as a MS Word document.

The form clearly is a subject to change as a DRAFT - it appears that either Factor 3 is missing or mislabeled; these are the factors and sub factors found on the draft form (no max points for each factor or sub factor are shown on the form):

Factor I – Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational Experience
1.    Key Personnel
2.    Partners

Factor 2 – Need and Extent of the Problem
1.    Housing Costs    
2.    Environmental Quality   
3.    Transportation Access   
4.    Socioeconomic Inequity   
5.    Economic Opportunity
6.    Fresh Food Access
7.    Healthy Communities
 
FACTOR 3 is missing or mislabelled
Factor 4 – Leveraging Resources
Factor 5 – Achieving Results and Program Evaluation

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog. 

HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant: I Expect NOFA this Week.

This is the last week in May and I expect the HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant to be coming out shortly. (I will be checking during the day today, but will be on the road at times on Tuesday and Wednesday covering the Hardest Hit legislative hearings in Salem, so look for HUD PR , or go to the HUD Sustainable Communities website during the week HERE to check for the NOFA).

Earliest signal is planned publication tomorrow of the HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning grant notice of the NOFA rating forms, published in advance in the FR Public Inspection  website HERE. (Actual form not included in the publication just the Notice of the form).

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Input Sought: MTAC Wednesday Meet Will Review HUD Sustainability Grant Materials (As Well as Transportation Plan Comments).

Metro's Technical Advisory Committee has a scheduled meeting on Wednesday May 5th at 10 AM in the Council chamber.

One of agenda items buried in the back of their package HERE (pgs 126-131) is a background briefing on plans to apply for a HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant when the NOFA is released by HUD (now scheduled for late May 2010). Specific grant amounts and activities are suggested by these materials.

Ramsay Weit from the Washington County Affordable Housing Fund (HERE) is an affordable housing advocate on MTAC, and you may want to offer any thoughts about the plan as described to him by COB on Tuesday (and feel free to post them as comments on this blog post). His email is polwonks@comcast.net

I likely will be sending my comments directly to Ramsay, as well as posting them on the blog, time permitting.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Look for Weekend Post of My Comments on Draft Metro 2035 Transportation Plan Update.

Metro's 2035 Transportation Plan is open for public comments until midnight Thursday May 6th. (Metro curiously has scheduled a public hearing for 5 PM the same day [before the deadline], so I would plan on getting your comments to Metro BEFORE May 6th).

Web page for Plan is HERE; actual 400+ page Transportation Plan is HERE.

So why do you/ I care?

1. Because Metro will adopt the Transportation Plan in June, well before it adopts the Urban Growth Plan (scheduled in December).
2. Because the combined housing and affordability index should be identical in both the Transportation and Urban Growth plans because (doh) the index includes both housing and transportation.

My comments, which I plan to post sometime this weekend, will point out significant problems with the housing related definitions and outcomes identified in the Transportation Plan.

Comments will be in MS Word format, allowing easy copy/paste editing for inclusion in YOUR comments. Whether you include or reference my comments is your choice, but I DO encourage you to take this opportunity to comment.[ I am running down with Metro how to make comments beyond the simple web form they have provided--look in my weekend post for more details].

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Events: Monday, May 10th Clackamas County Session for Seniors on Affordable Housing, Transit, and Land Use.

Ellen Johnson, from Housing Land Advocates sent a note recently about the first in a series of efforts to connect seniors with affordable housing, transit and land use issues.

First session is Monday May 10th; event flyer, including registration information, is HERE. (As part of event, they are offering free lunch/raffle).

From Ellen:

HLA has worked with a group of graduate students in the Urban Planning Department at PSU to prepare this training. The May 6 training in Clackamas County will be their initial role out of the training.
HLA hopes to partner with AARP and conduct several more trainings this calendar year within the METRO area and in eastern Oregon during 2011. HLA hopes to increase the number of people who understand the issues involved in affordable housing and land use and, as a result, to encourage participation in the planning process for affordable housing.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Events: May 12-14, Andres Duany Speaking on Regenerating Centers and Corridors.

Part of Metro's Greatest Places outreach.

Flyer for upcoming May 12-May 14 events is HERE.

Wikipedia for Andres Duany is HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

DOT Tiger II NOFA Seeks Input on Joint Availability Announcement with HUD Sustainbility Grant NOFA.

DC.streetsblog.org post is HERE.

$600 million available for Tiger II transportation infrastructure grant; Notice solicits input on selection criteria. Comments due NLT MAY 7th. Docket from regulations.gov is HERE.

Justia link to DOT funding notice from Federal Register is HERE. (21 page PDF is HERE). From Notice:

DOT is particularly interested in receiving comments on its intention to conduct a multi-agency evaluation and award process with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (``HUD'') for DOT's TIGER II Planning Grants (as defined below in Section VII (TIGER II Planning Grants)), and HUD's Community Challenge Planning Grants, which were also authorized under the FY 2010 Appropriations Act...
While the DOT and HUD planning grant programs have similar, related purposes, there are differences in the activities that the two programs can fund. DOT's program can fund planning activities that relate directly to a future transportation capital investment, while HUD's program can fund local planning activities that could support future transportation investment.
Transportation planning activities that may be funded under the TIGER II Discretionary Grant program include efforts related to individual transportation projects, transportation corridors, or regional transportation systems or networks. Activities eligible for funding under HUD's program include, but are not limited to, the development of master plans, zoning and building code reform
initiatives, including the development of inclusionary zoning ordinances, corridor and district plans, and other strategies, including land acquisition, designed to create walkable, mixed-use, transit-oriented, and affordable communities for persons of all incomes, especially those of low-, very low-, and extremely low-income persons and families.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Coaltion for Livable Communities Portland Livability Summit Events Start this Week.

Scheduled date at PSU is Thursday April 29th, however HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims will be speaking at First Unitarian Church on April 23rd--THIS Friday. (Flyer for that event is HERE).

Event details and registration information are HERE. Register by this Friday to insure lunch is available for you.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

HUD Sustainable Communities: Advance Registration Info Posted on HUD Website, NOFA Will be Delayed Unil "May 2010".

Advance copy of Notice in Federal Register advises applicants to register NOW, and requests applicants who intend to file a application to Notify HUD by May 14th. Advance Notice is HERE with final copy to appear in Federal Register tomorrow.

Notice ALSO says:

• 900+ comments received on requests for comment HUD previously published.
• NOFA itself, previously scheduled for THIS week, has been delayed until "May 2010".

(Notice also appears off of HUD Funds Available website HERE).

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Tri-Met's Congressional Hearing Testimony on Sustainability in Practice References HUD Grants.

On March 10th Tri-Met General Manager Fred Hansen testified before a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Sustainability in Practice. This hearing immediately proceeded a second panel with HUD Deputy Secretary Sims and a DOT official on sustainability provisions in the FY 2011 budget.

General Manager Hansen's testimony is HERE (file will open to page discussing HUD grants); HUD Deputy Secretary Sims Testimony is HERE.

Director Hansen had this to offer about the transit connection to HUD Livability/Sustainability Grants:

What the Administration has proposed will go a long way toward supporting the development of livable communities. One concern is that initial proposals out of HUD for their Sustainable Communities grants do not mandate a role for transit – which we know is essential for making livable communities. This may be appropriate for the regional planning grants, but not so for the community challenge grants, which appear more focused on implementation. Supporting actual project implementation that embodies the outcomes we’re striving for will be key to building sustainable communities. Transit agencies must be at the table with cities, metropolitan planning organization (MPOs) and housing developers to make this happen. The importance of this region-wide coordination is a key lesson from our experience in the Portland region.

There are numerous examples of promising projects underway in our region, which could use direct support and which might be models for other areas. For example, we are currently working with the Housing Authority of Portland to improve transit access as part of the Hillsdale Terrace redevelopment project for which they have applied to the HOPE VI program. While we recognize that the current use of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to fund the initiative may dictate which recipients are eligible for grants, there is a way to ensure transit agency participation in these planning efforts, either through heavily weighted criteria for partnership or through a direct requirement that transit be at the table.

It would also seem that, although we do need to strengthen capacity-building among MPOs for integrated regional planning, these initiatives must also support technical capacity-building within transit agencies (something we have, but most do not) to be viable partners with MPOs on these planning efforts, especially those that are modeling-heavy.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

My Comments on HUD Advance Notice for Sustainable Communities Planning Grants.

Comments are due by COB TODAY.

Send YOUR comments to sustainablecommunities@hud.gov
Feel free to extract and/or support any of the comments I made today.

From my transmittal:

I am writing to offer comments on the subject Notice published in the Federal Register on February 10, 2010 [Docket No. FR–5396–N–01). The comment period expires on March 12, 2010.

[I have posted my comments in a MS Word document on my webspace at

www.housepdx.com/msword/housing/tomcusacksustainablecomments03122010.doc

In the MS Word file I have extracted the questions from the Federal Register Notice and have added my comments in the far right column in the two tables in the PDF. My highest priority comments are bold faced in the far right "comments" column.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Metro Council As Adopted Feb 11th Housing Revolving Loan Fund Ordinance Posted to Metro Housing Watch Doc.

I have updated my Metro Housing Watch document in right pane to include a link to a PDF file with the housing revolving loan fund Ordinance, as it was amended and adopted at the Portland Metro Council at their Feb 11, 2010 meeting. The Ordinance language indicates that affordable housing is regionally significant, but in a prior work session members had indicated that $850,000 would no longer be available for use as a housing revolving loan fund. (My prior post on this Feb 11th. meeting is HERE).

While I don't think that anything has changed, I don't see ANYTHING in the adopted Ordinance that would signal to the public that the money is gone for this purpose (if you see language I have missed let me know).

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Livable Communities Planning Grants: Two Upcoming Webcasts.

PolicyLink has a scheduled Thursday March 4th advocates focused webcast on the new HUD Sustainable Communities Program, including an appearance by the HUD Director of the program. (I have pasted details from Policy Link below, including links to registration which IS required for this PolicyLink session).

Also, HUD's listening tour schedule shows a planned Tuesday March 9th webcast from 10-11 AM WEST coast/Pacific time on this program. This planned webcast does not yet show up on HUD's future webcast site but should be up sometime next week. (Advance registration is not required for this HUD session). This session may be repeated on subsequent dates.

March 4th webcast details from PolicyLink are pasted below: (sorry for small print size, extracted from email sent to me).
----------
What Advocates Need to Know.

The new HUD Sustainable Communities Planning Grant Program offers an exciting opportunity to create more equitable communities across America.

Join us for a webinar on Thursday, March 4, at Noon Eastern (9 am Pacific) to find out how you can influence the program to make it more responsive to low-income communities and people of color. The Department of Housing and Urban Development program – in collaboration with the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency – is intended to "create strong, sustainable communities by connecting housing to jobs, fostering local innovation, and helping to build a clean energy economy."

The webinar will cover how the program can better:

• Engage the Nonprofit Sector and Community Leaders for Policy
• Meet Housing Need and Affordability in our Communities
• Build Equity into Regional Consolidated Plans
• Foster Better Community and Agency Collaboration

Shelley Poticha, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Housing and Communities at HUDwill provide program details and outline the office’s effort to integrate housing, economic development, environmental impact and transportation decision-making.

Kalima Rose and Radhika Fox from PolicyLink will offer insights on how communities of opportunity and place-based strategies could be strengthened by a transformative and visionary federal effort on sustainable communities.

PolicyLink comments on this program will be posted on March 5, and will be e-mailed to all call participants.

View program details and submit your comments through the HUD website atwww.hud.gov/sustainability.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Link Corrected: METRO Housing Watch: Track What Portland Metro Council Has Seen, Heard, and Done About Affordable Housing.

I corrected the broken link to the Metro Housing Watch document....
-----

I decided to use the vast resources of one of my favorite sites, the Internet Archive, to post housing related Portland Metro Council materials.

The METRO Housing Watch PDF document I assembled HERE has links to edited audio and video, AND text files related to housing related discussions at Portland Metro Council meetings on the following three dates:

• December 10,2009.
• February 2,2010 (work session).
• February 11, 2010.

Audio and video files can be viewed on line OR downloaded and played on PC OR on portable devices, like an IPOD/IPHONE. If downloading video, be prepared for large files sizes, requiring a broadband connection.

These materials give anyone the opportunity to get up to speed on what recent Metro Council actions have been on affordable housing as we lead to key 2010 events:

1. 2010 ADOPTION of the Urban Growth Plan,[to date it has only been "accepted", and Metro Council says that policy choices will be made in 2010]
   
2. Adoption of new Framework and Functional plan housing policies.
3. A possible HUD Livable Communities Regional Planning grant application (due to HUD in early June 2010),

Future Updates/Navigation
As future meetings occur it is my intent to add to the video, audio, and text postings, and you will always find the most recent version of this document in the right pane of links under the name "METRO Housing Watch". (The latest update date will be shown at top of document).

To locate all of my Metro related posts within the Internet Archive, simply search using keyword "metrohousepdx", selecting "All media types" in box to right of search pane. [Use "housepdx" if you want to see ALL of my Internet Archive postings, including non Metro related postings].

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Updated: Metro Prior $850k Housing Revolving Fund is Gone; But Metro Council Says Affordable Housing Still "Regionally Significant".

I have extracted a "lessons learned" document HERE that was apparently discussed at a Feb 2, 2010 Metro Council Work Session-it includes a listing of potential projects that might have been able to use revolving fund loan proceeds and a time line for a RFP that had been previously issued; I did not attend session and there is no audio of Council Work Sessions.

Sigh....

On Thursday I provided oral comments and written testimony at the Metro Housing Council meeting about an Metro ordinance that described affordable housing as "regionally significant." (I was the only person who testified on the ordinance). That's the good news.[I will post the ordinance once I can locate a final version].

The bad news. At the Metro meeting a revised form of the ordinance was presented and modified so I can't provide you with exact language. However key language that said regional funding was important "..regardless of whether funding is currently available", was the tip off that Metro Council had recaptured the $850k in existing housing funding for other uses.

My written testimony is HERE; my 3 recommendations were:

1. Metro NOT divert the existing $850,000 away from affordable housing uses, now or in the future.
2. Metro begin to engage the affordable housing community NOW, prior to the expected early April date for opening of the grant application period, so that there is a transparent, inclusive process of preparing the grant application. This will insure that the application goes beyond the boundaries of the Metro planning “silo” and is fully informed by the views of the development community, non profits, affordable housing advocates, AND the existing and future plans of housing authorities and HUD Community Development Block Grant funded agencies.
3. Because I only learned about the ordinance under consideration by a chance reading Metro meeting packets, I also recommend that you improve transparency by setting up NOW a list serve/RSS link or and website so that ANYONE who wants to know about activities related to the Livable Communities Regional Planning Grant application and easily stay abreast of developments.

Editorial comments:

1. At some point the affordable housing community, including housing authorities and CDBG agencies, are going to be faced with a decision whether to support a future Metro HUD Livable Communities Regional Planning Grant application, given the latest failure of Metro Council to follow through on prior affordable housing commitments.[Fool me once, shame on you...]
   
2. I HOPE that the affordable housing community also rigorously quizzes candidates for Metro Council President to insure their views AND commitments on affordable housing are clearly known and recorded.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Cheat Sheet: HUD Regional Sustainability Planning Grant Advance Notice and Request for Comment.

I have constructed a three page cheat sheet HERE that summarizes key components of the HUD Regional Sustainability Planning Grant Advance Notice and Request for Comment I blogged about over the weekend (HERE).

The cheat sheet shows:

• The six livability principles.
• In a matrix, the three grant types, a further explanation and expected plan content, and questions HUD is asking for each grant type.
• Key dates for the six month roll out schedule.
  
• A link to HUD's sustainability website and to the Advance Notice and Request for Comment.

While I DO encourage readers to read the COMPLETE Advance Notice and Request for Comment, the three page cheat sheet provides a handy tool to help organize your comments and thoughts about this new program.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

HUD Provides Advance Notice and Opportunity to Comment on Planned April $100 Million NOFA for Regional Sustainable Community Planning Grants.

HERE HUD has provided an advance notice and an opportunity to comment on a planned April Notice of Fund Availability for $100 Million in Regional Sustainable Community Planning Grants. (Of that amount 1/4 is set aside for Metro areas smaller than 500,000).

From the Advance Notice there is an ambitious 6 month schedule to roll out this new program:

• Week of March 1, 2010—Webcast Briefings
• March 12, 2010—Comments on Draft Description due C.O.B. to HUD
• Week of April 12, 2010—NOFA published
• Approx. June 5, 2010—Applications due to HUD
• Approx. August 2, 2010—Announcement of Awardees

Wiki and Website Created
HUD has created a WIKI HERE to foster shared communication about issues related to the NOFA and the joint HUD-EPA-DOT Sustainability efforts. (Posting comments on the WIKI requires setting up an account and log in).

The new HUD sustainability website, where comments can also be submitted, is HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.