17 Communities to Receive Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants

Seventeen communities across the country have been selected to receive Choice Neighborhoods planning grants. The $4.95 million awarded will help the communities craft comprehensive, community-driven plans to revitalize public or other HUD-assisted housing and transform distressed neighborhoods.

The Choice Neighborhoods Initiative promotes a comprehensive approach to transforming distressed areas of concentrated poverty into viable and sustainable mixed-income neighborhoods. Building on the HOPE VI program, Choice Neighborhoods links housing improvements with necessary services for the people who live there–including schools, public transit, and employment opportunities.

In August, HUD announced the nine finalists competing for approximately $110 million in 2012 implementation grants. The latest planning grant awards will use the funding to work with local stakeholders–public and/or assisted housing residents, community members, businesses, institutions, and local government officials–to undertake a successful neighborhood transformation to create a “choice neighborhood.” The awardees will use the funding to create a comprehensive Transformation Plan, or road map, to transforming distressed public and/or assisted housing within a distressed community.

This year’s awardees are:

• BRIDGE Housing Corp.; San Francisco,
• Sunnydale Development Co.; San Francisco
• District of Columbia Housing Authority
• County of Pasco; Dade City, Fla.
• Michaels Development Co.; Honolulu
• Boston Housing Authority
• Housing Authority of the City of Durham; Durham, N.C.
• Newark (N.J.) Housing Authority
• Housing Authority of the City of Camden, N.J.
• Municipal Housing Authority of the City of Yonkers, N.Y.
• New York City Housing Authority
• The Woonsocket (R.I.) Neighborhood Development Corp.
• Housing Authority of the City of Spartanburg, S.C.
• Housing Authority of the City of Columbia, S.C.
• Kingsport (Tenn.) Housing & Redevelopment Authority
• Housing Authority of the City of Austin, Texas
• The City of Roanoke (Va.) Redevelopment & Housing Authority