CHICAGO – (RealEstateRama) — The American Planning Association (APA) is a national partner in the U.S. Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) new “Prosperity Playbook” initiative. The initiative will convene regional experts in five locations to identify best practices for supporting economic mobility, expanding housing affordability and increasing access to opportunity-rich neighborhoods, education and jobs.
APA and other national partners will assist with convening and facilitating discussions with regional leaders at each of the five tour locations and help shape the ideas and content for the Playbook. The sessions are designed to identify best practices already in use and share ideas with communities looking to improve opportunities for citizens. Following the community tour, the best practices will be turned into an online toolkit for state and local leaders to use for community planning and development. The toolkit will be available later this year.
“Planners are at the frontline tackling economic development and housing affordability challenges locally and regionally every day,” said Carol Rhea, FAICP, APA president. “As a national partner, we will provide valuable insight into techniques and tactics that work well. This partnership furthers APA’s organizational goal of making communities more just.”
Recent studies illustrate that an individual’s earning potential and achievement, let alone life expectancy, can be strongly influenced by the zip code in which one lives. The Prosperity Playbook will strive to enable communities to identify and address these challenges and provide a strong foundation for all citizens to prosper.
HUD Secretary Julián Castro launched the Prosperity Playbook community tours yesterday in Kansas City, Missouri. The other tour locations include Denver, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Minneapolis.
APA has been a long-standing supporter of HUD’s policies and efforts to promote economic growth and community development through proven place-based strategies. From Alaska to Texas, planners across the country have worked with local government officials and community leaders to revitalize neighborhoods and improve access to jobs, housing and transportation, and education through sound planning. Each year, HUD joins APA in celebrating local planning champions improving access to economic opportunity through the HUD Secretary’s Opportunity & Empowerment Award.
The American Planning Association is an independent, not-for-profit educational organization that provides leadership in the development of vital communities. APA and its professional institute, the American Institute of Certified Planners, are dedicated to advancing the art, science and profession of good planning — physical, economic, and social — so as to create communities that offer better choices for where and how people work and live. APA has offices in Washington, D.C., and Chicago, with almost 40,000 members worldwide in nearly 100 countries.
