Learn about the proposed Livable Communities Act

By Samantha DeKoven
November 5, 2009
1 comment

Update Nov. 13: Senate Banking Staff encouraged stakeholders to contact legislators, both members of the Senate Banking committee and others, to encourage their support for the Livable Communities Act. A sample letter is available. Let your legislators know how funding for comprehensive planning and challenge grants to fund projects identified in those plans will improve quality of life in your neighborhood through increased economic competitiveness, more transportation options, and increased housing opportunities.

For those of us working to advance equitable and sustainable solutions to our nation’s housing, transportation, and community development challenges, these are exciting times at the federal level.

Please join us for a telebriefing by staff members of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee on Thursday, November 12 from 2 to 3 pm Eastern to discuss an important federal policy opportunity – the pending Livable Communities Act.

To join, please call (877) 746-4263 and enter the Participant Access Code: 02 70 577#

Co-hosted by the American Planning Association, LISC, the National Housing Conference, National Housing Trust, PolicyLink, Reconnecting America, and Smart Growth America, this telebriefing will:

Outline ways you can get engaged in advocating for the Livable Communities Act
Detail the goals and purpose of the Act
Examine how the Act fits in with the Obama Administration's overall Sustainable Communities agenda

To join, please call (877) 746-4263 and enter the Participant Access Code: 02 70 577#

Contact your U.S. Senators and encourage them to support the Livable Communities Act. You can fax or mail this sample letter of support. Or call and use the letter as talking points.

Keywords

employer-assisted housing, incentive, interagency coordination, interjurisdictional collaboration, Senate Banking Committee, Sustainable Communities Partnership, sustainable development, transit oriented development

Comments

1. Abdalla from VYpHdcTgficB on June 21, 2012

College students often go hugrny because the cost of living in our nation continues upward without relief, driven especially by housing, gas, and healthcare. When people take themselves out of the full-time job market long enough to get an education, many take the risk of not having enough money to meet their basic needs. The country has the resources to solve these kinds of problems. It all comes down to having the public will to end poverty. Public will is generated in part by urgent and conscious leaders and in part by the timing of things. Is it the right time? Probably we are closer now than we have been before to having a national commitment to end poverty.Do we have the right leadership? Not yet but it could be coming soon. Meanwhile, college students will do well to reach out and build a circle of support for themselves. In our first Circles initiative years ago here in Ames, Iowa, 20% of our families were headed by someone with a college degree. Even a degree is not a guarantee one does not end up in poverty. It takes education plus bridging social capital (people around you who already have stable economic lives) to get out of poverty. Thank you for your comment Karen! I post blogs often around Circles and invite you to bookmark our blog. Check back often!