Press Releases

For Immediate Release

MTC Awards $18 Million for 'Smart Growth' Projects

CONTACT:

Marjorie Blackwell
510.464.7884

Trent Lethco
510.464.7737

OAKLAND, Calif., July 25, 2001...The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) today allocated $18 million to 21 Bay Area cities to foster better coordination between transportation and land use planning.

The federal funds are part of MTC's larger $58 million Transportation for Livable Communities (TLC) program, which helps finance transportation-related projects in urban areas. The projects include new or improved bicycle paths, pedestrian walkways, plazas and streetscapes near transit centers. (See list of projects.)

Half of the $18 million approved today will go to 15 cities when they break ground on high-density housing units near public transit. This Housing Incentive Program (HIP) is a first-of-its-kind in the nation and a first-ever effort by MTC to provide incentives to cities to build compact housing near transit. The cities will use the funds for transportation-related projects identified in the TLC program.

"With the high cost of housing and traffic congestion ranking at the top of Bay Area concerns, we believe this is a step in the right direction," said MTC Chair Sharon Brown. "The $9 million we are providing to 15 Bay Area cities will encourage them to develop transit-oriented housing for more than 10,000 residents.

"The HIP grants are an incentive for cities to support and quickly implement higher-density housing," Brown said. "The more market rate and ‘affordable' bedrooms they build, the more HIP funds they are eligible to receive."

Two Press Conferences

MTC announced the HIP awards at two press conferences today in Dublin and Vallejo on the sites of two new housing developments that will be built near transit centers.

The city of Dublin is planning a mixed-use housing, office and retail development with up to 1,500 housing units adjacent to the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. The project will have a high density of 70 units per acre on the 90-plus-acre site. As incentive, MTC will provide a $1.3 million HIP grant for the city to use for small-scale, pedestrian- and transit-friendly transportation projects. Dublin also received a $750,000 TLC capital grant for a pedestrian-oriented plaza at the nearby BART station.

The city of Vallejo has approved development of Sereno Village Apartments, which will provide 125 affordably-priced apartments, near an existing shopping center and bus hub. For its role in the implementation of the nearly six-acre, high-density project, the city received a HIP grant of $382,000, which may be used for a transit plaza and associated amenities at the Sereno Bus Transit Center.

Doug Shoemaker, policy director for the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California and a member of the MTC Citizens Advisory Council, which reviewed HIP applications, commented on the program. "We really see the Housing Incentive Program as crucial to helping cities do the right thing – providing affordable housing, rejuvenating downtowns and encouraging transit use. This program is Smart Growth in action," he said.

MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

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