Choice Neighborhoods (CN) is a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to transform distressed neighborhoods and public housing into mixed-income neighborhoods linking housing improvements with appropriate services, schools, public assets, transportation, and access to jobs. Choice Neighborhoods is focused on three core goals:
HOUSING: Replace distressed public housing with high-quality mixed-income housing that is well-managed and responsive to the needs of the surrounding neighborhood.
PEOPLE: Improve educational outcomes and intergenerational mobility for youth with services and supports delivered directly to youth and their families.
NEIGHBORHOOD: Create the conditions necessary for public and private reinvestment in distressed neighborhoods to offer the kinds of amenities and assets, including safety, good schools, and commercial activity, that are important to families’ choices about their community.
Learn more at HUD.gov
Marcos de Niza-Grant Park Community
The City of Phoenix Housing Department is applying for a fiscal year 2024 Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant for Marcos de Niza Apartments and the surrounding community. If awarded, the grant will be used to develop a Transformation Plan that will guide the future redevelopment of the Marcos de Niza Apartments. The Plan will also identify targeted neighborhood improvements in the surrounding Marcos de Niza and Grant Park neighborhoods as well as a supportive services program tailored to the needs and interests of Marcos de Niza residents.
This community planning process will include multiple opportunities and options for residents to be involved in the development of the plan and to provide input including community workshops, focus groups and Resident and Youth Leadership Councils, to name a few. The planning process is anticipated to take 24 to 30 months. Once complete, the Transformation Plan will serve as a roadmap for future public and private investment in the community.
Edison-Eastlake Community
In July 2018, the City of Phoenix was awarded a $30 million Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant. This grant, along with over $190 million in leverage, is allowing the Housing Department to transform and revitalize the Edison-Eastlake Community including replacing 577 obsolete public housing units with over 1,000 units of mixed-income housing; neighborhood improvements like new and expanded parks and open/green spaces; and additional supportive services programs at two new community centers in the neighborhood offering medical and behavioral health services, Head Start classes, and other important community resources.
