HUD Official Tours Detroit, Sees City’s Use Of Federal Funds

DETROIT (AP) — The Biden Administration was given a look at how Detroit has used more than $12 million in federal funds to help with the city’s revitalization.

U.S. Housing and Urban Affairs Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman, on Tuesday, Oct. 26, toured small business corridors, neighborhoods, and housing developments where some HUD money was used on resident-led planning studies.

“Cities have a responsibility to wisely invest federal resources into projects and initiatives that generate the most positive change and the most return on investment,” Mayor Mike Duggan said in a release.

HUD money allowed the city to leverage more than $169 million in investments through philanthropic grants and city and state funds across 10 areas through the city’s Strategic Neighborhood Fund initiative.

Detroit wants to show HUD and the Biden Administration that the city has been a good caretaker of those dollars and proud to show how other cities can revitalize neighborhoods and follow Detroit’s example, according to Dan Austin, spokesman for the city’s Housing and Planning departments.

Todman said she was impressed with how the city has used federal funding to fill “pockets” where disinvestment has existed, but added that the need for further investment in Detroit and across the United States “has not ended.”

“People don’t just want a good home they want a strong community,” she said.

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