Thriving Communities Technical Assistance
The Thriving Communities Technical Assistance (TCTA) program, funded in FY22 with $5 million, is designed to support coordination and integration of transportation and housing in infrastructure planning and implementation.
Overview
State and local governments and tribes are receiving historic amounts of funding to invest in a range of infrastructure projects, including transportation, water systems, high-speed internet accessibility, environmental remediation, and electric grids. These investments will reach every community across the country, including those that have been under-resourced or are experiencing economic distress. Jurisdictions can leverage these infrastructure investments to revitalize communities, ensure equitable access to resources, create economic opportunities for residents and businesses, and improve housing availability, affordability, and quality. The TCTA program, funded in FY22 with $5 million, is designed to support coordination and integration of transportation and housing in infrastructure planning and implementation.
Who Can Receive TCTA?
Units of general local government (UGLG) should request technical assistance (TA) if they:
- Will be receiving transportation funding, either directly or through a state pass-through, with priority given to those receiving competitive funds
- Want to address housing needs in disadvantaged communities in accordance with their housing and/or equity goals
- Want to work on at least one of the four TCTA topic areas
- Are committed to community engagement to ensure residents and businesses in disadvantaged communities benefit from the transportation investment
How Can TA Help Your Local Government?
HUD’s TCTA program will help local governments ensure housing needs are considered as part of their larger infrastructure investment plans, while also supporting equitable development in disadvantaged communities.
With transportation projects getting underway, local governments have an opportunity to address their local housing needs through HUD’s Thriving Communities TA. Here are some examples of how TCTA can support your housing goals in connection with a transportation project:
- A project to construct multimodal improvements and connect a disadvantaged community could include TCTA to preserve affordable housing in that community.
- Creation of a new transit line could include TCTA to identify and implement regulatory reforms to speed permitting for multifamily construction along the planned line.
- Development of a walking and biking trail could include TCTA to develop anti-displacement strategies.
- Improvements in transit connectivity along a corridor could include TCTA to identify vacant or underutilized land the local jurisdiction could use to create location-efficient housing.
- Revitalization of a rural main street could include TCTA to identify strategies to preserve and produce housing near the main street.
- A transit project could include TCTA to capture land value increases caused by the development through creation of special assessment tax districts to fund affordable housing along the transit corridor.
Training and Resources
How to Request TA
Requests will be reviewed as they are received, on a rolling basis. With limited funding, HUD's TCTA program anticipates serving approximately 30 to 40 jurisdictions.
Priority will be given to jurisdictions with populations of less than 250,000 people.
The government is encouraged to work with regional organizations (such as a Metropolitan Planning Organization), non-profits, philanthropies, or other cross-sector partnerships, but the request for TCTA must be made by the UGLG.
Preview the TA request form questions before submitting your request.
If your jurisdiction is not yet ready for TCTA, future TA opportunities will be available.
What Technical Assistance Will Be Provided?
Local governments can receive TCTA in the following four areas:
Land Utilization
Identifying and using vacant, abandoned, or underutilized land located on or near transportation projects that is suitable for housing development (including land owned by federal, state, and local governmental entities as well as the private sector) to create location-efficient housing.
Regulatory Reform
Identifying and implementing regulatory and procedural reforms to reduce unnecessary barriers to location-efficient housing that impede housing production and increase development costs.
Preservation
Preserving affordable housing and protecting residents and businesses from displacement as new infrastructure is deployed.
Coordination
Improving coordination both among public entities (for example, local housing, transportation, planning, and community development departments) and between public entities and state recipients of infrastructure funding; transit authorities and other quasi-public entities; the private sector; and locally based organizations in ways that support a holistic and regional approach to housing and transportation.