Choice Neighborhood Plan focuses on People, Housing and Community.
In September 2024, the City of Joliet and the Housing Authority of Joliet (HAJ) were awarded a HUD Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant for the Bicentennial Bluffs Neighborhood. Through the Grant, the City and HAJ will work with local residents and a variety of community stakeholders – including nonprofits, faith-based organizations, anchor institutions, supportive services agencies, businesses, and others – to create a forward-looking Transformation Plan with a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion.
The Plan will be centered on the redevelopment of HAJ's housing, which includes 170 units of low-income housing from Heritage Place Apartments. The CNI Plan will seek to replace 100% of those housing units within the neighborhood, or in other areas of opportunity as part of new mixed-income developments, and identify additional investments to the Bicentennial Bluffs neighborhood.
What is the
Choice Neighborhood Initiative (CNI)?
The HUD Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI) employs a comprehensive approach to neighborhood transformation. The program helps communities by revitalizing distressed public (and/or assisted) housing while investing and leveraging investments in:
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Well-functioning services and public assets
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High quality public schools/education programs
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High quality early learning programs/services
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Public transportation and mobility
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Improved access to jobs
The CNI will ensure that current residents will be able to benefit from this transformation by preserving affordable housing or providing residents with the choice to move in to affordable and accessible housing in another existing neighborhood of opportunity.
The Choice Neighborhoods Initiative is focused on three core goals:
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Housing: Transform distressed public and assisted housing into energy efficient, mixed-income housing that is physically and financially viable over the long term.
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People: Support positive outcomes for families who live in the target developments and the surrounding neighborhood, particularly outcomes related to residents’ education, health and recreation, safety, employment, and mobility; and
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Neighborhood: Transform distressed neighborhoods into viable, mixed-income neighborhoods with access to well-functioning services, high quality public schools and education programs, high quality early learning programs and services, public assets, public transportation, and improved access to jobs.