The purpose of Strong Communities is to provide significant grants for local infill infrastructure to incentivize municipalities and counties to support higher density infill development that furthers sustainable development patterns, leads to affordable housing development, provides community benefits, ensures multimodal connectivity, reduces greenhouse gas emissions long term, furthers social and environmental equity, and improves quality of life and community resilience. One time grant funds will reward participating communities to help update and upsize downtown/core infrastructure that supports affordable housing in infill locations. Interested communities will compete to join a cohort that will, with financial and technical support from the state interagency team, utilize consultants to perform growth scenario impact analyses and code and policy assessments to inform locally determined adoption of transformative policies and strategies. This work will demonstrate they’ve leveraged local land use and other actions to institutionalize more sustainable development patterns long term. Strong Communities will offer multiple stages of assistance leading to the best possible infill infrastructure projects through land use and policy amendments that will begin the shift to develop more sustainable land use development patterns long term.
