About the Creating Sustainable Places Grant
In October 2010, a consortium of more than 60 regional partners, led by the Mid-America Regional Council, received a $4.25 million planning grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to advance the implementation of the Regional Plan for Sustainable Development.
Creating Sustainable Places is not only a regional vision and plan to guide how we grow and develop, but a strategy for moving our communities from planning to action. This strategy includes the following steps:
- Organizing for Success — Building on the region's strong track record of collaboration to provide leadership, coordinate outreach and education activities, broaden public understanding of and involvement in sustainability issues, and strengthen stakeholder capacity to address them.
- Enhancing Decision Making — Developing new tools, policies and practices necessary to make sound investments and accelerate sustainable development.
- Demonstrating New Models — Applying these new tools to key corridors and activity centers through demonstration projects that can help transform the ways neighborhoods and communities grow and develop.
The Creating Sustainable Places project is overseen by a Consortium Coordinating Committee with representation from local governments, businesses, nonprofits, equity organizations, universities, professional associations and housing organizations. The committee will provide regional leadership on sustainable development; provide oversight for grant funds, including setting priorities and policies for fund allocation; and provide advice and expertise to regional partners on sustainable development policies.
Consortium Coordinating Committee leaders will meet regularly with a select group of other leaders, including the MARC Board of Directors, the Total Transportation Policy Committee, the Air Quality Forum and other appropriate regional policy committees to share information and identify opportunities to integrate planning efforts.
Once or twice each year, MARC will convene a Partner Congress to provide key input into the implementation of Creating Sustainable Places. Stakeholder work groups will focus on particular projects and issues.
Key Projects
- Community engagement and outreach, including the Imagine KC series on KCPT public television.
- Work with social equity partners to ensure that under-represented population groups are included and their needs are considered.
- Training classes and forums offered through the Academy for Sustainable Communities.
Monitoring and evaluation using a set of indicators developed to measure progress. - Development of tools for use by partner agencies, including a visualization tool, an economic pro forma, retail center
reuse strategies and an updated natural resource inventory. - Design of regional housing development capacity to help meet the needs of
changing markets. - Workforce development to increase employment opportunities along key corridors and within activity centers.
- Developing plans for six key corridors that integrate land use, transportation, housing, environment and other sustainability factors.
- Support for housing development and rehabilitation in the Green Impact Zone.
- Selection of four to six planning/demonstration projects to help local communities advance sustainable development practices.
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