September 1 Regional Housing Forum to focus on Transit-Oriented Development and Affordable Housing

The Atlanta Regional Commission, in conjunction with The Atlanta Community Food Bank and the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership (ANDP), has hosted a quarterly Regional Housing Forum for well over a decade.   

This long-standing gathering of nonprofit, business, governmental, educational and grassroots organizations meets to discuss matters dealing with affordable housing and related topics of transportation, land-use and much more (you can view past Housing Forum summaries here).  

The topic for the next Regional Housing Forum, scheduled for Wednesday, September 1, will focus on the topic of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) and Affordable Housing.   

LCI Mid-Year 2010 Breaking Ground Report notable increase in projects that have moved into construction

The ARC Board established the Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) program in 1999. The Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) is a program that encourages local jurisdictions to plan and implement strategies that link transportation improvements with land use development strategies to create sustainable, livable communities consistent with regional development policies.   

Planning grants are awarded on a competitive basis to local governments and non-profit organizations to prepare plans for the enhancement of existing centers and corridors. The ARC Board has approved $13 million in study funds – $1 million annually – for use in years 2000 to 2012. The ARC Board also approved an initial allocation of $350 million for priority funding of transportation projects resulting from Livable Centers Initiative studies. An additional $150 million has since been approved for these projects, for a total commitment of $500 million dedicated to transportation projects resulting from completed LCI studies.  

  

Development of Excellence Nomination Period Closes Next Week!

Don’t forget that the nomination period for the 2010 Developments of Excellence awards closes on Thursday, August 19. Sponsored by the Atlanta Regional Commission, in partnership with the Livable Communities Coalition, the awards honor trend-setting developments in the Atlanta region. Past winners have been recognized for urban revitalization, transit accessibility, affordable housing, conservation and sustainability measures, among other things.  

Nominations are encouraged from developers, builders, private, public and nonprofit entities for their recently completed or near-complete projects. Winning projects will be recognized at ARC’s annual State of the Region Breakfast on November 5. The theme of this year’s State of the Region breakfast is “Innovate for a Sustainable Region.” 

Please e-mail questions or completed nomination packets to Beth Hawes, bhawes@atlantaregional.com, or mail to her attention at 40 Courtland Street, Atlanta GA 30303. 

To see information about past DOE winners, visit ARC’s website @ http://www.atlantaregional.com/land-use/developments-of-excellence 

Jackson County Rezones Residential Land for Ag and Conservation

Jackson County, Ga made the news recently. Accompanying the housing market crash, the County was faced with a plethora of vacant lots and half complete or abandoned subdivisions – a situation unfortunately not uncommon in many communities across the nation, and in our region. Faced with this reality, and the concurrent urging of many county residents who feared the expanding suburban nature of the county was resulting in the loss of important natural resources, county planners contemplated what strategy would best contest these forces.

The result:  reclassify 50,000 acres of land slated for future residential development to either conservation land or agriculture use.  Not only will this help the County control their growth and expansion in the future, as opposed to the virtually unbridled suburban-style development the County was zoned for, but this was also done to help balance the County’s budget. When County staff began crunching the numbers and looking at the situation the County would be faced with should most of the land zoned for residential develop, they realized that there was no way the county could afford the infrastructure to support houses there, and the decision became an easy one.

An interesting and thought-provoking approach by a County south of Atlanta – read the article here and tell us what you think.