ARC announces $1.2 million in community grants and new healthcare study funds
Summary
The Atlanta Regional Commission announced $940,000 in grant funding for five communities on May 8 through its Livable Centers Initiative, a program that helps pay for planning studies and transportation projects centered around walkability, connectivity, and placemaking.The 25-year-old initiative has invested over $312 million in over 130 communities since its creation, with grants covering 80 percent of the study and transportation project costs and the recipient matching the final 20 percent. With an updated system, the district aims to encourage more walking, cycling and transit in the city center.Gwinnett County received the largest grant funding portion, with $280,000 for the Jimmy Carter Boulevard Area Master Plan. The study will define a multimodal transportation network along Jimmy Carter Boulevard, help with transit-oriented development and identify strategies for new affordable housing.Downtown Fayetteville and Powder Springs each received $160,000. Fayetteville will use the money for a creative placemaking strategy that will create a walkable and livable downtown mixed-use district, while Powder Springs will study ways to better connect the citys newest assets. The new plan aims to reflect a changing landscape in the area with a growing enrollment at Kennesaw State University and expanding airport.Alongside the initiative, the Atlanta Regional Commission will provide planning and technical support to six metro Atlanta communities through the Community Development Assistance Program: the Upper Westside multimodal concept study, the Woodstock housing analysis, Decatur affordable housing preservation, the Little Five Points culture assessment and Community Improvement District, the South Fulton housing assessment and upper South River watershed corridor study.Woodstock and the Westside district will receive two grants, with the city taking $80,000 and the upper west side area taking $240,000.