HUD Puts Up $100 Million for Regional Planning for Sustainable Communities: Will Connecticut Compete?

- By Erin Bourgault, CTLCV Summer Intern from Bates College. erin.bourgault@ctlcv.org

In an effort to enhance sustainable development throughout the nation, U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced the $100 million Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant program to promote better regional housing, jobs, economic development, and investments in land use and clean energy.

These competitive grants will be awarded to regional alliances, such as state and local governments, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), non-profit and philanthropic organizations, educational associations, as well as multi-jurisdictional and multi-sector partnerships. The grant applications are due on August 23, 2010, and will be reviewed by HUD, the Department of Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Instead of competing against one another, communities across the state of Connecticut should pursue this federal funding in earnest by cooperating regionally.

“We believe that the ‘future of the city’ is tied to the future of the region-cities, suburbs and rural areas that surround them, and that America’s ability to compete and create jobs in the 21^st century depends on our metro regions.”

- HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan

Some Connecticut communities are already collaborating across town lines. Working with surrounding towns, West Hartford has secured funding to hire an energy manager who will work with each participating town. Simsbury has also been actively working with other Farmington Valley towns to find ways to share costs and create efficiencies, saving money for all the towns that collaborate.

Additionally, the Commission on Municipal Opportunities and Regional Efficiencies (MORE) aims to instigate a new method of state and local government throughout Connecticut that will produce savings through regional cooperation in order to enhance economic competitiveness in Connecticut. Inter-municipal agreements help towns and cities achieve cost efficiency and savings by identifying existing costs and the legal obstacles that prevent changes. MORE will focus on regional collective bargaining, local education, mandate relief, state grants to municipalities and health care, and local revenue streams.

The cost of duplicating services, schools and operations in our 169 cities and towns has caught up with us. We can’t do business this way anymore. Connecticut municipalities must be open to new possibilities through inter-municipal agreements that promote efficiency. With a regional approach to protecting the environment and revitalizing the economy, Connecticut could be far more environmentally sustainable and fiscally responsible.