National Urban Policy Announcement Concerning the 1980 Report.

The President today transmitted to Congress the second biennial National Urban Policy Report. The report presents key accomplishments in the last 2 years in carrying out the objectives of the President's urban policy announced in 1978; analyzes trends and patterns affecting urban, suburban, and nonmetropolitan areas; reaffirms the President's commitment to American communities; and sets out an urban policy agenda for the 1980's. The report, required every 2 years by Congress, was prepared by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The report provides an extensive list of specific legislative initiatives and administrative actions that have been taken to implement the 1978 urban policy. These include:

—action to target Federal aid to distressed communities;

—the community conservation guidelines, which require impact analyses of Federal actions leading to large commercial developments;

—Executive orders targeting procurement to distressed areas, encouraging Federal agencies to locate in urban areas, initiating urban impact analyses of new Federal policies and programs, and creating a formal urban policy coordinating group;

—legislation to change the tax code (e.g., targeted jobs credit, rehabilitation tax credit) and to expand social service, education, and housing aid;

—steps to strengthen fair housing, equal opportunity and affirmative action regulations and enforcement.

The major portion of the report presents a detailed analysis of economic, population, employment, and numerous other trends and their effects on central cities, suburbs, and nonmetropolitan communities.

The study confirms recent census findings that many older cities are losing population, but shows that neighborhood and housing conditions are generally improving throughout the Nation. It concludes that population shifts between regions of the country continue, especially between the Northeast and North Central regions and the South and West, although migration has slowed compared with the years 1965-75. The study documents the growth of nonmetropolitan and suburban areas, and indicates that while national rates of poverty have diminished, they have increased in central cities.

The study shows that while cities' needs were increasing, the Federal response was also increasing while targeting resources to needy urban areas and the poor. Growth in Federal aid to States and localities has increased from $59.1 billion in 1976 to $88.9 billion in 1980.

The report demonstrates the value of Federal programs and agencies such as HUD's Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG) program, the Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration (EDA), the Department of Health and Human Services' public health services in urban areas, the Environmental Protection Agency's changes in regulations to deal with urban problems, and the Department of Transportation's shifts of highway and transit programs to older, distressed cities, and urban impact analyses on new highway projects.

The UDAG program has brought enormous private financial resources to bear against such urban problems as unemployment and disinvestment, with a minimal amount of budget expenditure. To date, the program has attracted more than $8.6 billion in new private investment to cities which qualify as needing assistance the most. This is roughly six times the amount of HUD's Action Grant expenditure. In addition, the program will create 234,000 permanent jobs in the private sector while increasing the participating cities' annual tax revenues by over $250 million.

EDA has moved from an agency primarily concerned with rural problems to a balanced economic development agency. Half its funds are now distributed to urban areas.

The third section of the report reaffirms the administration's commitment to the 1978 urban policy and presents an urban policy agenda for the 1980's. Specific actions and strategies are grouped under five general policy goals:

—to strengthen urban economies and assist distressed communities to compete successfully for households and jobs;

—to expand job opportunities for the structurally unemployed where they live and increase their mobility to communities where jobs are available;

—to promote fiscal stability by assisting cities to strengthen their tax bases and meet urgent revenue needs;

—to eliminate discrimination and increase access for all population groups to good quality housing, pleasant neighborhoods, and needed community services;

—to encourage energy-efficient and environmentally sound urban development patterns without limiting mobility or economic development.