T4 America Co-chair to head HUD Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities

T4 America Co-Chair Shelley Poticha to head new HUD Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities
July 24, 2009
By Transportation for America
CONTACT: David Goldberg
202.412-7930
david.goldberg@T4America.org

The Obama Administration has appointed Transportation for America Co-Chair Shelley Poticha to be Senior Advisor for Sustainable Housing and Communities at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the department announced today.
Poticha, who is also President and CEO of Reconnecting America, is expected to head a new HUD Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities that would be created under legislation to be sponsored by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT).
“Shelley will help lead HUD’s effort to change the way we think about how our communities fit with how Americans live their lives,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “Her wealth of experience will help move us forward in creating sustainable, greener and smarter communities.”

Poticha has been Co-Chair of the Transportation for America campaign since its launch in 2008. As president and CEO of the national nonprofit Reconnecting America since 2004, she has become a national leader for the reform of land use and transportation planning and policy. In that role, and as former executive director of the Congress for the New Urbanism, she has helped stimulate a national conversation about the role of transportation in shaping communities and making them more sustainable and affordable. She also has been a tireless advocate for diverse and inclusive neighborhoods.

“Shelley understands how transportation, housing, energy and environmental policies impact the real lives of people,” said James Corless, Director of Transportation for America. “She will be a powerful voice to ensure we make smarter investments at the federal level to make American communities safer, healthier and more prosperous. We are sad to loser her leadership of our campaign, but are proud to see her take on this new and exciting challenge.”

“Shelley has worked with all levels of government on the issues of livability, sustainability and affordability. Secretary Donovan couldn’t have made a better choice,” said New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, President of Reconnecting America’s Board of Directors and a member of the T4 America executive committee. “Shelley is one of this country’s foremost experts on sustainable communities.”

Poticha will advise HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims on sustainability issues. Sims was previously Director of Strategic Planning and Performance Management for King County, Washington.

“Shelley is a visionary and well-respected expert in growth management and urban policy and will help all of us focus on how to create better living environments for all Americans,” Sims said.
HUD’s Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities will advance will provide technical and policy support for energy, green building and integrated housing and transportation programs at HUD and around the nation. Additionally, the office will manage the department’s key relationships with other federal agencies.

Poticha has helped forge an interagency partnership between HUD and the Federal Transit Administration to link transit and land use policy and funding, and to study the interplay between housing and transportation costs. One of the products of this partnership was a report entitled “Realizing the Potential: Expanding Housing Opportunities Near Transit,” which examined the strategies being used to create and preserve mixed-income housing near transit in five case study regions. The report was authored by the Center for Transit-Oriented Development, a partnership of Reconnecting America, the Center for Neighborhood Technology and Strategic Economics.

Shelley has co-authored several books, including The New Transit Town: Best Practices in Transit-Oriented Development, Street Smart: Streetcars and Cities in the 21st Century, and The Next American Metropolis, as well as the Charter of the New Urbanism, and many reports and white papers.