Written by Ryan Hollitz | 09 February 2010
Posted in Blog - Sustainable Living

The push is starting to have the future we need. Viva Obama! :)

via [usatoday.com]

Every federal agency seems to have a role in helping President Obama create a clean energy economy. For its part, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is ramping up efforts to promote sustainable communities where people live close to jobs, stores and public transportation.

HUD will fund local projects, offer financing for energy- efficient homes and unveil a new "affordability index" based on a home's proximity to jobs and other necessities, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said in a recent announcement.

"We will begin to tie the quality and location of housing to broader opportunities such as access to good jobs, quality schools and safe streets," Donovan said.

To do this, HUD is launching  the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities to be led by Deputy Secretary Ron Sims, who won national recognition for turning Seattle and King County, Wash.,  into a model for sustainable communities.

So people can see how their tax dollars are being spent, Donovan said HUD is also launching a new website: www.hud.gov/sustainability.

HUD's efforts are part of a broader push to promote smart growth by making it easier for people to live close to where they work and shop, so they won't need to drive as much. In June, it joined the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency to create the first interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities.

The private sector is also promoting such communities. The U.S. Green Building Council has worked with the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Congress for the New Urbanism on the LEED for Neighborhood Development rating system, set to be launched nationwide this year.

 

---