Resource Guide

List Serves (Receive E-Mails):

Rural Update
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Community Revitalization
To:
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Last Name

Rural Development
To:
Body: sub ruraldev
First Name
Last Name

People:

Center for Community Support
Texas A&M University
(979) 458-3239
http://ccs.tamu.edu

Rural Information Center
www.nal.usda.gov/ric

Civic Plus (website maintenance)
www.civicplus.com

Funding:

Federal funding opportunities for rural areas
http://www.nal.usda.gov/ric/ruralres/funding.htm

Grants for rural communities
www.conservationgrants.com

Neighborhoods On-line Fundraising
http://www.libertynet.org/nol/Funding/funding.html

State of Texas Grant Alert Program
http://www.governor.state.tx.us/divisions/stategrants

Funding Solutions
www.funsol.com

STELLAR Fundraising
www.stellarfundraising.com

Land Use

General Information:

US Department of Energy Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development
http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/landuse/luintro.shtml

Urban Land Institute
www.uli.org

Institute for Local Self-Government Community Land Use Project
http://www.ilsg.org/index.jsp?displaytype=§ion=land&zone=ilsg

EPA Smart Growth Initiative
http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/index.htm

Law:

State of Texas Property Code
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/pptoc.html

Legal Information Institute at Cornell University
http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/land_use.html

Land Use Law
Washington University
http://www.landuselaw.edu/

Pace University Land Use Law Center
http://www.pace.edu/lawschool/landuse/

Examples:

City of Cedar Park Comprehensive Plan
http://www.ci.cedar-park.tx.us/Miscellaneous/compplan/index.html

Flatonia, TX Comprehensive Plan
http://www.destinationflatonia.com

City of Austin
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/development/

City of Victoria
http://www.ci.victoria.tx.us/planning/index.htm

Housing

Websites:

Assorted Housing Links
www.nal.usda.gov/ric/faqs/housin~1.htm#afford

Regulatory Barriers to Developing Affordable Housing
http://www.huduser.org/rbc/

USDA Rural Development Housing Programs
http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rhs/

HUD Rural Housing and Economic Development
http://www.fedgrants.gov/Applicants/HUD/ODGMO/AT/FR-4932-N-01/Modification1.html

Housing Assistance Council
(202) 842-8600
www.ruralhome.org

People:

Rural Development Office, USDA
www.rurdev.usda.gov
www.rurdev.usda.gov/tx

Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
Community Development Programs
(512) 475-3900
www.tdhca.state.tx.us

Cen-Tex CDC
www.grandcentraltexas.org

Capital Area Housing Finance Corporation
http://www.cahfc.org/

Texas Low Income Housing Information Service
(512) 477-8910
www.texashousing.org

Habitat for Humanity
www.habitat.org

Enterprise Foundation
David Danenfelzer
(888)533-2244
http://www.enterprisefoundation.org/

Funding:

Information on funding sources can be found at the "people" websites listed above Economic Development

Websites:

Rural Information Center
www.nal.usda.gov/ric

SBA Online Library
http://www.sba.gov/lib/library.html

Small Business Information Sites
www.INC.com

Tip Sheets for Tourism Development
www.travel.state.tx.us

Succession Planning Information
http://dept.kent.edu/oeoc/SPP/Index.htm

People:

Service Corps of Retired Executives
(800) 634-0245
www.score.org

Small Business Administration
www.sba.gov

Small Business Development Centers
www.sbaonline.sba.gov/sbdc

Small Business Survival Committee
www.sbsc.org

National Retail Foundation
www.NRF.com

Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center
(800) 625-4876
www.tmac.org

Funding:

Skills Development Funds Program
Texas Workforce Commission
(512) 936-3120
www.twc.state.tx.us/customers/bemp/bempsub6.html

Other funding available on the websites listed

Downtown Revitalization

General Information:

Downtown Research & Development Center
http://www.downtowndevelopment.com/

An Annotated Webliography of Downtown Revitalization Resources
(Compiled by the University of Hawaii at Mano)
http://sustainable.state.fl.us/fdi/fscc/news/world/0009/drr.htm

National Main Street Center (Main Street USA)
http://www.mainst.org/

International Downtown Association
http://ida-downtown.org/

Texas Downtown Association
http://www.texasdowntown.org/

Pew Partnerships
http://www.pew-partnership.org/viableeconomies/downtown.html

Examples of Revitalization:

City of Huntsville, TX
http://www.huntsvillemainstreet.com/

City of Bertram, TX
http://www.bertramchamber.org/Community/Preservation/DowntownRestoration.asp

City of La Grange, TX
http://mainstreet.fais.net/

City of Summerside, Canada
http://www.investinsummerside.com/projects/facade.cfm

St. Croix Valley Development Design Study
http://www.metrocouncil.org/planning/stcroixvalley/stillwater_drse.htm

City of Oakland, Maine
http://www.oaklandmaine.com/downtown.html

Town of Paradise, West Virginia
http://www.townofparadise.com/downtown_revitalization.htm

Funding:

National Park Service
(Mainly for historic preservation)
http://www.ncptt.nps.gov/fundingopps/
http://www2.cr.nps.gov/hpf/hpf-fund.htm

Texas Department of Agriculture Rural Economic Development Division
http://www.agr.state.tx.us/eco/rural_eco_devo/economic_development/fin_smalltown.htm

US Department of Agriculture Rural Development
http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/

Parks and Recreation

General Park Information:

Texas Parks and Wildlife
www.tpwd.state.tx.us (General Information)

Lower Colorado River Authority
www.lcra.org

National Park Service
www.nps.gov

Trust for Public Land
http://www.tpl.org/

Rails to Trails Conservancy
www.railstrails.org

Greenspace Design
E-mail:
http://www.greenspacedesign.org/home.html

Texas Trails Network
www.texastrails.org

Playground and Other Equipment:

(This is not an endorsement of a particular company, just an information resource)
South Texas School Furniture

1-800-353-3685
www.texaslibrary.com

Gametime, Inc.
1-800-235-2440
http://www.gametime.com/

Landscape Structures, Inc.
1-888-438-6574
http://www.playlsi.com/

Playground Equipment.Com
This is a site sponsored by several manufacturers of playground equipment
http://www.playground-equipment.com/

Funding:

Lower Colorado River Authority
Paul Scallon
1-800-776-5272
www.lcra.org

Texas Department of Transportation / TEA-21
www.txdot.state.tx.us

Gametime, Inc.
1-800-235-2440
http://www.gametime.com/funding.htm

Texas Parks and Wildlife
www.tpwd.state.tx.us/grants

The Urban Parks Institute
http://urbanparks.pps.org/topics/funding/

The Trust for Public Land
http://www.tpl.org/

Infrastructure

Water:

Texas Water Development Board
http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/

Lower Colorado River Authority
www.lcra.org

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
www.tceq.state.tx.us

Water Infrastructure Network
http://www.win-water.org/

American Water Works Association
http://www.win-water.org/

Texas Office of Rural Community Affairs (ORCA)
www.orca.state.tx.us

USDA Rural Development
http://www.usda.gov/rus/

Wastewater:

Public-Private Partnerships in Water and Wastewater Infrastructure
http://www.ip3.org/water2000.htm

National League of Cities
http://www.nlc.org/nlc_org/site/policy_legislation/win/index.cfm

WaterWorld
http://ww.pennnet.com/

Texas Office of Rural Community Affairs (ORCA)
www.orca.state.tx.us

USDA Rural Development
http://www.usda.gov/rus/

Electricity:

Lower Colorado River Authority
www.lcra.org/energy

Fayette Electric Co-op
http://www.kilowatt.com/

American Public Power Association
www.appanet.org

Electric Reliability Council of Texas
www.ercot.com

The Electricity Forum
http://www.electricityforum.com/

Streets:

Texas Department of Transportation
www.dot.state.tx.us

State Infrastructure Bank
http://www.dot.state.tx.us/revexp/sib/sibtoc.htm

Capital Area Regional Transportation Planning Organization
http://www.capco.state.tx.us/CARTPO/CARTPO_Home.htm

Fayette County
http://www.co.fayette.tx.us/

US Department of Transportation
www.dot.gov

Emergency Services:

Firefighting.com
http://www.firefighting.com/

Fire and EMS Network
http://www.Fire-EMS.net/

Texas Department of Public Safety
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/

Texas Department of Health Bureau of Emergency Management EMS Standards
http://www.tdh.state.tx.us/hcqs/ems/stndhome.htm

Schools:

Texas Education Agency
www.tea.state.tx.us