In the flurry of news this week, one development has slipped through the cracks of the US media. The Guardian reported Tuesday:
The Obama administration unveiled a $4bn (£2.5bn) plan to upgrade public housing for low-income Americans today, as part of an ambitious green job-creation project.
Obama sent the vice-president, Joe Biden, and other senior officials to Denver for a formal announcement of the renovation scheme, which will replace windows, insulation and even light bulbs in ageing and neglected housing stock.
The labour secretary, Hilda Solis, was also expected to announce $500m to train up workers for the new jobs. Of those funds, $50m will be directed to regions that have been hardest hit by the recession – such as the rustbelt state of Michigan where the unemployment rate is now 12%.
This news follows green jobs adviser Van Jones's recommendations on what to do with recovery funds. More after the jump.
Jones, in a comment before the announcement at the Denver Science Museum, said "This president is committed to literally millions of jobs in this sector over the course of his term," and that the renovations of public housing stock would account for about 40% of the funds set aside by Obama to improve energy use in government buildings.
Also at the Denver announcement was HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, and the event with Solis, Jones, and Donovan represents one of the higher-profile announcements from the administration's urban policy staff. Donovan and Solis announced that HUD and Labor are working together to make it easier for public housing residents to find training programs or a green job, again in keeping with Jones's recommendations for sustainable development.
Donovan said Monday that the investment in public housing will help meet several goals: improving the quality of public housing, reducing energy costs for residents and the government, and creating jobs for people who live in the units and in the surrounding community.
"A whole set of things can repay investments in a short period of time," Donovan said in an interview. Replacing windows, insulation, appliances and even light bulbs are among the possible energy-efficient renovations.
Some of the money for public housing also would be used for basic repairs and maintenance.
The event comes as (in Chicago, at least) we see signs showing work funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act popping up on the West Side. I cannot speak to what is happening in other cities, but there is a sense here that the events of the past four months are developing tangible benefits in neighborhoods that have seen hard times for a lot longer than the past eight months.
As with Sonia Sotomayor's nomination for the Supreme Court, this is an example (as John McCain said on Tuesday) of the adage that elections have consequences. It is not a story likely to generate lots of headlines over the coming months, but it is one that may have significant consequences for urban America.