Partnership for Sustainable Communities

On June 16, 2009, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) joined together to help communities nationwide improve access to affordable housing, increase transportation options, and lower transportation costs while protecting the environment.

The Partnership for Sustainable Communities works to coordinate federal housing, transportation, water, and other infrastructure investments to make neighborhoods more prosperous, allow people to live closer to jobs, save households time and money, and reduce pollution. The partnership agencies incorporate six principles of livability into federal funding programs, policies, and future legislative proposals.

Livability Principles

• Provide more transportation choices. Develop safe, reliable, and economical transportation choices to decrease household transportation costs, reduce our nation's dependence on foreign oil, improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and promote public health.
• Promote equitable, affordable housing. Expand location- and energy-efficient housing choices for people of all ages, incomes, races, and ethnicities to increase mobility and lower the combined cost of housing and transportation.
• Enhance economic competitiveness. Improve economic competitiveness through reliable and timely access to employment centers, educational opportunities, services and other basic needs by workers, as well as expanded business access to markets.
• Support existing communities. Target federal funding toward existing communities—through strategies like transit oriented, mixed-use development, and land recycling—to increase community revitalization and the efficiency of public works investments and safeguard rural landscapes.
• Coordinate and leverage federal policies and investment. Align federal policies and funding to remove barriers to collaboration, leverage funding, and increase the accountability and effectiveness of all levels of government to plan for future growth, including making smart energy choices such as locally generated renewable energy
• Value communities and neighborhoods. Enhance the unique characteristics of all communities by investing in healthy, safe, and walkable neighborhoods—rural, urban, or suburban.

Partnership Agencies

U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)
U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has identified livability as a key priority for transportation. The Secretary's vision is "transportation policies that focus on people and communities who use the transportation system." A major way DOT helps communities pursue these aims is by issuing grants to eligible recipients for planning, vehicle purchases, facility construction, operations, and other purposes.

 

U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA)
EPA helps communities grow in ways that expand economic opportunity, protect public health and the environment, and create and enhance the places that people love. Through research, tools, partnerships, case studies, grants, and technical assistance, EPA is helping America's communities turn their visions of the future into reality.

 

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
The mission of HUD’s Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities (OSHC) is to create strong, sustainable communities by connecting housing to jobs, fostering local innovation, and helping to build a clean energy economy. OSHC offers funding opportunities to help communities realize their own visions for building more livable, walkable, and environmentally sustainable regions.

Partnership Reports

Supporting Sustainable Rural Communities
Rural communities across America are working to strengthen their economies, provide better quality of life to residents, and build on assets such as traditional main streets, agricultural and working lands, and natural resources. This report summarizes the Rural Work Group’s findings and creates a framework for the Partnership’s future work with rural communities.

A Year of Progress for American Communities
One of our country’s most pressing goals is to build an economy that provides good jobs now and which creates a strong foundation for enduring prosperity. To accelerate job growth for current and future generations, that foundation must be built with expanded housing and transportation choices, greater energy independence, and better protection for our clean air and water.