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New Updates on SCRC - 04/05/2012

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SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES ENEWS

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HUD’s Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities (OSHC), in partnership with the Office of Policy Development and Research, is pleased to present the Sustainable Communities Resource Center (SCRC) — a new section of huduser.gov dedicated to providing you with information that supports local and regional strategies, with an emphasis on sustainable housing and planning.

New on SCRC

Turning Blighted Properties into Pocket Parks:
Los Angeles Case Study
The federally funded Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), part of HUD’s Community Development Block Grant program, was designed in 2008 to address foreclosures and the blight exacerbated by abandoned properties on neighborhoods. In Los Angeles, for example, where more than 62,000 housing units in the city have entered foreclosure, the city has received some $142.7 million in NSP funds. “We tended to buy the worst properties with the NSP program,” says Douglas Swoger, director of homeownership and preservation for the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD), because “we thought we could have the most impact by buying the worst” structures. Read More

Fireclay Village: A Model for Sustainable Growth
Utah’s Wasatch Front — a long and narrow region that houses 80 percent of the state’s population — faces significant geographical challenges to accommodate future growth. To the east of the valley, developable land is confined by the steep topography of the Wasatch Mountain Range. To the west, the valley’s boundary is defined by Utah Lake. Because of the narrow north-south orientation of the 80-mile long valley, transportation choices and the orientation of future development are at the forefront of regional plans. Read More

 

Funding and Incentivizing Energy-Efficient Building Retrofits

Feature Story

Funding and Incentivizing Energy-Efficient Building Retrofits
In the United States, residential buildings account for 12 percent of the nation’s energy consumption, 36 percent of electricity consumption, and 22 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Energy-efficiency retrofits can conserve resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, improve quality of life for residents, create jobs in construction, and save money in the long run by reducing utility costs. A 2010 HUD study suggested that efficiency improvements for energy and water systems in the nation’s 1.2 million units of public housing would, through reduced utility bills, pay for themselves in 12 years. Read More

Grantee Spotlight: Plan East Tennessee
Nestled in a valley between the Cumberland and Great Smoky Mountains, the Knoxville area of East Tennessee is surrounded by picturesque views of the Appalachian mountain range. An ideal place to live for the avid outdoors person, the area has abundant open space and a moderate climate. The five counties that form the East Tennessee region — Anderson, Blout, Knox, Loudon, and Union — cover 1,900 square miles and include a combined population of approximately 680,000. While rich in natural resources, the Appalachian region has long struggled with poverty; substandard housing, traffic congestion, limited employment opportunities, and air and water pollution continue to affect the entire region. Read More

Don’t Forget...

Please don’t forget to check out the related content available on the new Sustainable Communities Resource Center, and consider bookmarking these pages & sharing the valuable content you’ll find on SCRC with your colleagues and friends.

Please send your comments and suggestions to scenews@huduser.gov

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