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It Metropolitan Council <br />Livable Communities Program <br />0) Investments in <br />Pm community vitality <br />Thriving job centers stand on <br />14 once - polluted land. Workers <br />Ills like teachers, police officers <br />and health care aides can find <br />affordable housing in the <br />communities where they work. <br />Residents can shop, get on a <br />bus to go to work, and enjoy a <br />local park all within walking <br />distance of their front door. <br />These opportunities are <br />supported by the Livable <br />Communities Act (LCA), <br />adopted by the Minnesota <br />Legislature in 1995 and <br />administered by the <br />Metropolitan Council. <br />The LCA provides funding for <br />communities to invest in local <br />economic revitalization, afford- <br />able housing initiatives, and <br />development or redevelopment <br />that connects different land <br />uses and has good access to <br />transportation. <br />At Voluntary program, <br />based on incentives <br />The LCA reflects the Legis- <br />lature's preference for a <br />voluntary, incentive -based <br />approach to help communities <br />grow and redevelop, and to <br />address the region's affordable <br />and lifecycle housing needs. <br />Programs help reach <br />local, regional goals <br />The Council establishes criteria <br />for evaluating proposals and <br />makes grant awards in four <br />programs: <br />• Tax Base Revitalization <br />(TBRA) - Clean up brown - <br />fields for redevelopment, job <br />creation and affordable <br />housing in areas already <br />served by transit. <br />• Livable Communities <br />Demonstration (LCDA) - <br />Support development and <br />redevelopment that demon- <br />strates efficient and cost - <br />effective use of land and <br />infrastructure, and achieves <br />connected development <br />patterns linking housing, <br />jobs and services. <br />• Local Housing Incentives <br />(LHIA) - Produce and <br />preserve affordable housing <br />choices for households with <br />low to moderate incomes. <br />• Land Acquisition for <br />Affordable New Develop- <br />ment (LAAND) uses LCDA <br />funds to provide communi- <br />ties with no- interest loans to <br />help address affordable <br />housing needs. This program <br />is administered in partner- <br />ship with Minnesota <br />Housing. <br />To compete for LCA funding, <br />communities must negotiate <br />long -term affordable and life - <br />cycle housing goals with the <br />Council, and develop an action <br />plan to accomplish these goals. <br />Participating communities (105 <br />communities in 2009) are then <br />eligible to compete for funding <br />from all three LCA accounts. <br />The LCA's emphasis is on <br />cooperation and incentives to <br />achieve regional and local <br />goals. Local communities are <br />well positioned to make deci- <br />sions about how their cities <br />and towns will grow and <br />develop, but the LCA recog- <br />nizes it will take partnerships <br />and shared resources to move <br />from community plans to "on- <br />the -ground" results. <br />Investments reap <br />impressive results <br />From 1996 through 2009, the <br />Council awarded 578 grants <br />totaling more than $198 <br />million in Livable Commu- <br />nities funds. Fifty-two awards <br />have been relinquished in full <br />or in the majority, for a net of <br />526 grants totaling $175.? <br />million. (The net expected <br />outcomes of LCA grants have <br />been adjusted to reflect <br />projects that did not moved <br />forward.) The grants have <br />Metropolitan Council • 390 Robert St. N. • Saint Paul MN 55101 • Website: www.metrocouncil.org <br />Phone: 651- 602 -1000 • TTY: 651- 291 -0904 • Data Center: 651 -602 -1140 • E -mail: data.center @metc.state.mn.us <br />