HUD Sets Deadlines for Sustainable Communities Planning Grants Comments, Applications:  HUD sets a midnight March 12 public comment deadline for stakeholders to suggest changes to HUD's advance notice on funding part of the brand new $100 million Sustainable Communities Planning Grant Program. The Feb. 4 advance notice says a formal No...  Read More  02/05/2010 1:39 PM

(CODES) NYC Eyes Urban Green Council Recommendations:  A panel of experts convened by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to determine how to make New York City's building codes more environmentally sound has issued more than 100 recommendations that would impose energy-saving requirements on construct...  Read More  02/05/2010 1:35 PM

(HUD) Cities Get Sec. 3 Ultimatums:  More than 4,000 U.S. cities have received letters from HUD telling local officials to comply with the department's Sec. 3 requirements or face blanket withholding of HUD subsidies. The move was initiated when the White House decided to enforce the ...  Read More  02/05/2010 12:52 PM

(HUD) Changes Crimp Budget Funding:  HUD's FY2011 spending blueprint has sufficient bottom-line money to finance all programs fully and then some. But a big chunk of the cash will be diverted to changing the way HUD and its programs operate. When President Barack Obama took office a ye...  Read More  02/05/2010 12:46 PM

(CPD) HUD Seeks Record Amount for Homeless Assistance Programs:  McKinney-Vento homeless assistance programs would get nearly $2.1 billion -- the largest amount in program history -- if Congress follows through on the HUD fiscal year 2011 budget proposal. The new money is expected to help transform federal efforts...  Read More  02/05/2010 12:35 PM

(HUD) Congress Asked to Fund Multi-Agency Homelessness Voucher Demo:  HUD wants Congress to finance an $85 million multi-agency incremental voucher demonstration effort to aid persons with special needs who are homeless or at risk of being so. Department officials say the Obama administration believes a broader progra...  Read More  02/05/2010 12:34 PM

(BUDGET) HUD Renews Effort for $1 Billion National Housing Trust Fund:  HUD is including the $1 billion National Housing Trust Fund in the department's FY 2011 budget, but Congress still has to approve funding in order for the long-awaited program to begin. HUD's Feb. 2 budget package, "Investing in People and Places," ...  Read More  02/04/2010 10:23 AM

(BUDGET) HUD Moves to Streamline, Preserve Rental Assistance Programs in 2011 Budget:  HUD seeks to consolidate and simplify 13 rental assistance improvement programs and preserve 300,000 rental units as part of a major new $350 million Transforming Rental Assistance (TRA) initiative. The department issued its plan Feb. 1 in its budge...  Read More  02/04/2010 10:16 AM

(CONGRESS) The Jobs Bill -- CD Digest Readers Design a Bill:  Editor's Note: As a service to our readers, Fred Cooper, president of Community Development Concepts Advisory Services Inc., a consultancy serving the community development industry (www.cdcadvisoryservices.com ), offers expert analysis and insightf...  Read More  02/03/2010 4:30 PM

(HUD CPD) Catalytic Investment Grant Program to be More Flexible than CDBG:  If HUD's new Catalytic Investments Grants Program (CIGP) meets with congressional approval in the budget process, officials say a dozen or more innovative economic development projects are likely to split the $150 million HUD seeks. CIGP has its roo...  Read More  02/03/2010 4:26 PM