HUD Incentivizes Regional Planning through SCRG by Eric Wong

An interesting piece of news I learned through the Connecting to Markets: Neighborhoods and Housing Markets symposium I attended is that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is actively incentivizing collaborative regional planning efforts through Sustainable Communities  Regional Planning Grants (SCRG).  According to Raphael Bostic, Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research at HUD and a panelist at the symposium, the goal of SCRG is to “facilitate and incentivize regional planning and more coordinated development of housing that is more sustainable, more walkable, closer to jobs and helps to make living easier, which should translate into real health benefits.”A priority for the program is to create nontraditional partnerships (e.g., arts and culture, recreation, public health, food systems, regional planning agencies and public education entities) to develop and implement strategies for planning and reinvestment in local communities.  Using an approach like the Improve Group’s recent work in opportunity mapping to assess local nutrition needs and gaps could help in establishing partnerships and priorities.  The process allows stakeholders to describe and learn about the resources and identify opportunities to enhance their local communities.  Opportunity mapping offers a transparent process that enhances collaboration and provides for innovative solutions that can be beneficial to achieving the goals of SCRG.