11 January 1999
Source:
http://library.whitehouse.gov/PressReleases-plain.cgi?date=0&briefing=1
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Vice President
___________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release Contact:
Monday, January 11, 1999 (202) 456-7035
CLINTON-GORE LIVABILITY AGENDA:
BUILDING LIVABLE COMMUNITIES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
"In the 21st century, increasingly, a livable community will
be an economically powerful one.
--Vice President Gore, Sept. 2, 1998
Vice President Gore is today launching a comprehensive Livability Agenda to
help communities across America grow in ways that ensure a high quality of
life and strong, sustainable economic growth. This billion dollar
initiative will strengthen the federal government's role as a partner with
the growing number of state and local efforts to build "livable
communities" for the 21st century.
Key elements of the interagency initiative -- to be included in President
Clinton's proposed FY 2000 budget -- will provide communities with new
tools and resources to preserve green space, ease traffic congestion, and
pursue regional "smart growth" strategies. As part of the Livability
Agenda, the Administration will continue to work with and learn from
states, communities, and other stakeholders, and to develop new strategies
to provide them with additional tools and resources.
Livability Goals
The Clinton-Gore Livability Agenda aims to help citizens and communities:
Preserve green spaces that promote clean air and clean water,
sustain wildlife, and provide families with places to walk, play
and relax.
Ease traffic congestion by improving road planning,
strengthening existing transportation systems, and expanding use
of alternative transportation.
Restore a sense of community by fostering citizen and private
sector involvement in local planning, including the placement of
schools and other public facilities.
Promote collaboration among neighboring communities -- cities,
suburbs or rural areas -- to develop regional growth strategies
and address common issues like crime.
Enhance economic competitiveness by nurturing a high quality of
life that attracts well-trained workers and cutting-edge
industries.
FY 2000 Livability Initiatives
The President's FY 2000 budget request to Congress will propose significant
new investments to support major Livability programs:
Better America Bonds - To help communities reconnect with their land
and water, preserve green space for future generations, and provide
attractive settings for economic development, the Administration
is proposing a new financing tool generating $9.5 billion in bond
authority for investments by state, local and tribal governments.
The President's budget will propose tax credits totaling more
than $700 million over five years -- to support Better America
Bonds, which can be used to preserve green space, create or
restore urban parks, protect water quality, and clean up brownfields
(abandoned industrial sites). The program will be coordinated
through an interagency process.
Community Transportation Choices - To help ease traffic congestion,
the proposed Department of Transportation budget for FY 2000 will
include a record $6.1 billion for public transit and $2.2 billion -- a
total 16 percent increase over FY 1999 -- to aggressively implement
innovative community-based programs in the Transportation Equity Act
for the 21st Century. Such programs provide flexible support to help
communities create regional transportation strategies, improve
existing roads and transit, and encourage broader use of alternative
transportation. This includes $1.6 billion for the Congestion
Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program, which supports state
and local projects that reduce congestion and improve air quality.
Regional Connections Initiative - To promote regional "smart growth"
strategies and to complement the Administration's other regional
efforts, the Department of Housing and Urban Development will provide
$50 million as matching funds for local partnerships to design and
pursue smarter growth strategies across jurisdictional lines.
Strategies will include compact development incentives, (b)
coordinated reinvestment in existing infrastructure, and (c) ways to
manage reinforce the region's overall development strategy.
Other Livability Initiatives - The President's proposed FY 2000 budget
will include funding for several other initiatives supporting local
livability efforts:
Community-Centered Schools - A new $10 million grant program
administered by the Department of Education to encourage school
districts to involve the community in planning and designing new
schools.
Community-Federal Information Partnership - A new $40 million
program funded by several agencies to provide communities with
grants for easy-to-use information tools to help develop
strategies for future growth.
Regional Crime-Data Sharing - $50 million will be provided to
expand programs to help communities share information to improve
public safety. These programs will: (1) improve and continue to
computerize national, state, and local criminal history records;
and (2) develop or upgrade local communications technologies and
criminal justice identification systems to help local law
enforcement share information in a timely manner.
The Livability Agenda integrates the commitments of more than a dozen
Federal agencies. The Agenda also supplements the various programs that
make up the Administration's Community Empowerment Agenda, which is
designed to encourage reinvestment in existing communities and provide
greater opportunity for their residents.