Fresno State-based Valley partnership granted $4m to improve cities

The California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley, headquartered at California State University, Fresno, has been awarded a $4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for its Smart Valley Places program.

“This is unprecedented opportunity, under the Sustainable Communities Initiative, provides our region the resources necessary to create strong, sustainable communities,” said partnership lead executive Mike Dozier, who is interim director of Fresno State’s Office of Community Economic Development (OCED).

The strategy, he added, is to “connect housing to jobs, foster local innovation and help to build a clean energy economy.”

Smart Valley Places is driven by a compact among cities with a population of at least 50,000 and nine organizations.

The city partners are Stockton, Manteca and Lodi in San Joaquin County, Modesto and Turlock in Stanislaus County, Merced, Madera, Clovis and Fresno in Fresno County, Visalia, Tulare and Porterville in Tulare County, Hanford and Delano.

Partnering organizations are the Fresno State Foundation, OCED, Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley and Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program, all at Fresno State. Others are the California Coalition for Rural Housing, San Joaquin Valley Regional Policy Council, American Farmland Trust, Local Government Commission and the San Joaquin Valley Urban Planning and Environmental Resource Center.

“The cooperation and collaboration shown by all these partners should encourage the residents of the San Joaquin Valley that the future holds promise,” said Mike Dozier.

“Building on the San Joaquin Valley Regional Blueprint and its smart growth principles, Smart Valley Places is a roadmap to creating more transportation choices, equitable affordable housing, economic competitiveness and healthier, safer, walkable neighborhoods,” added Dozier.

Ultimately, he said, the initiative will “shape future growth trends that will impact not only the health and prosperity of the region, but the entire state of California.”

The California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley brings together public and private leaders and resources to address economic, environmental and social issues in the eight-county region that stretches from San Joaquin County to Kern County.

For more information, contact Dozier at 559.294.6021 or mdozier@csufresno.edu.