Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) has introduced legislation that would provide incentives for connecting affordable housing and public transit.
The Livable Communities Act of 2021 seeks to:
· Establish an Office of Sustainable Communities within the Department of Housing and Urban Development to promote interagency coordination on the development of affordable housing, transit systems, and other community needs;
· Create a Comprehensive Planning Grant Program to allow partnerships between local governments, planning organizations, and Indian Tribes and creates comprehensive regional plans for the development of sustainable, affordable housing with access to transit;
· Create a Community Challenge Grant Program to help fund the implementation of comprehensive regional plans;
· Creates a credit facility to promote access to credit for the development and improvement of public transportation facilities;
· Set aside 25% of the funding specifically for high-poverty communities; and
· Launch a federal initiative to support healthy housing and reduce the prevalence and severity of housing-related health hazards.
“Our communities are stronger when hardworking families can afford to live close to where they work. As the nation faces an affordable housing crisis, we don’t want to see teachers, first responders, grocery store clerks, restaurant staff, and other essential workers be priced out of the neighborhood,” said Menendez in a statement. “Creating ‘livable communities’ is all about connecting workers to good-paying jobs through expanded affordable housing options and access to good public transportation by inextricably and strategically linking the two in a community’s broader redevelopment plans. The Livable Communities Act of 2021 provides federal investments to help local communities throughout New Jersey and the nation craft and implement redevelopment plans that generate economic opportunities, create jobs, provide housing, and improve the quality of life for all residents.”
Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) also sponsored this legislation.
“Strategically linking affordable housing to transit is a strategic investment in American workers,” Wyden said. “This legislation provides key funds for our state and our nation to grapple with a climate crisis, an affordable housing crisis, and underinvestment in public transit—all at once to create livable communities for generations to come.”
Wyden will be speaking Wednesday during a missing middle housing two-day virtual conference hosted by Affordable Housing Finance and sister publication Multifamily Executive. For more information and to attend, visit conference site.
