Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Notice of Funding Opportunity

What is Thriving Communities?

In the FY22 budget, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) received an initial $25 million and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was allocated $5 million for a Thriving Communities program. The Thriving Communities program strengthens local capacity through technical assistance to advance and execute transformative infrastructure investments in underserved and lower-resourced communities through a coordinated approach to connect transportation and infrastructure investments funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act with other crucial investments like housing.

HUD and USDOT staff are working closely to meet the goal of improving the coordination of housing and transportation planning to advance residents’ access to opportunity, spur economic development, and increase housing supply.

For details on DOT’s funding, visit the DOT Thriving Communities Program page.

Who receives funding?

HUD will fund TA providers that take a localized, holistic approach to technical assistance, working across sectors and building local capacity. These technical assistance providers will have experience partnering with local community-based organizations to satisfy specific technical assistance assignments, while increasing local capacity and supporting equitable engagement and outcomes. Their specific expertise will relate to providing technical assistance to local governments, working at the intersection of housing and transportation, and creating communities of opportunity.

The Thriving Communities Technical Assistance NOFO was published October 6, 2022, and closed November 22, 2022. Awards are expected to be announced no later than March 2023.

Who does Thriving Communities Serve?

The funding opportunity will provide technical assistance to units of general local governments (UGLGs) to help local jurisdictions leverage the infrastructure investments to revitalize communities, ensure equitable access, create economic opportunities for residents and businesses, and improve housing availability, affordability, and quality. Given the collaborative nature of the projects that are a focus of this technical assistance, Thriving Communities will also benefit a variety of local entities and organizations.

While other federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Transportation, are also providing technical assistance under the banner of Thriving Communities, HUD’s technical assistance is specifically focused on integrating housing and transportation planning to support disadvantaged communities as UGLGs design and implement infrastructure plans. TA will focus on four areas:

1. Identifying and using vacant, abandoned, or underutilized land located on or near transportation projects that is suitable for housing development (including land owned by federal, state, and local governmental entities as well as the private sector) to create location-efficient housing.
2. Preserving affordable housing and protecting residents and businesses from displacement as new infrastructure is deployed.
3. Identifying and implementing regulatory and procedural reforms to reduce unnecessary barriers to location-efficient housing that impede housing production and increase development costs.
4. Improving coordination both among public entities (for example, local housing, transportation, planning, and community development departments) and between public entities and state recipients of infrastructure funding; transit authorities and other quasi-public entities; the private sector; and community-based organizations in ways that support a holistic and regional approach to housing and transportation.

More information for local governments interested in receiving technical assistance will be available in early 2023.