I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 709 
To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish 
and carry out an urban revitalization and livable communities program 
to provide Federal grants to urban areas for the rehabilitation of criti-
cally needed recreational areas and facilities and development of improved 
recreation programs, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 15, 2011 
Mr. SIRES (for himself, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. 
CONNOLLY of Virginia, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. NADLER, Mr. 
CARNAHAN, Mrs. MALONEY, Ms. RICHARDSON, Mr. ROTHMAN of New 
Jersey, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. COHEN, Mr. ACKER-
MAN, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. ENGEL, 
Mr. RANGEL, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. POLIS, Mr. MCNERNEY, 
Mr. WEINER, Mr. TURNER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. FIL-
NER, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. FATTAH, and Ms. BORDALLO) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Serv-
ices, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
committee concerned 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop-
ment to establish and carry out an urban revitalization 
and livable communities program to provide Federal 
grants to urban areas for the rehabilitation of critically 
needed recreational areas and facilities and development 
of improved recreation programs, and for other purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Urban Revitalization 
and Livable Communities Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) According to the 2000 United States Cen-
sus, 79 percent of the population of the United 
States lives in urban areas. 
(2) The quality of life in urban areas is closely 
related to the availability of fully functional park 
and recreation systems including land, facilities, and 
programs. 
(3) Residents of urban areas need close-to-home 
recreation opportunities that are adequate to special-
ized urban needs, with parks and facilities properly 
located, developed, and well-maintained. 
(4) The greatest deficiencies in recreation with 
respect to land, facilities, and programs are found in 
many urban areas, especially at the neighborhood 
level. 
(5) Inadequate Federal financing of urban 
recreation programs has led to the deterioration of 
facilities, nonavailability of recreation services, and 
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an inability to adapt recreation programs to chang-
ing circumstances. 
(6) According to the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention (CDC), over the last 25 years, 
rates of obesity have more than tripled among ado-
lescents ages 12 to 19 and doubled among adults 
ages 20 to 74 and children ages 6 to 11. 
(7) Physical inactivity contributes to obesity. A 
study by the CDC found that the creation of, or en-
hanced access to, places for physical activity led to 
a 25.6 percent increase in the percentage of people 
exercising on 3 or more days a week. Physical activ-
ity can improve physical and mental health. The an-
nual costs of medical spending and lost productivity 
from individuals in the United States being obese 
and 
overweight 
are 
estimated 
to 
be 
$139,000,000,000. 
(8) Urban parks and recreation facilities play 
key roles in improving the health of the population 
of the United States by providing convenient access 
to the places, spaces, and opportunities that lead to 
increased physical activity. 
(9) According to the Juvenile Justice Bulletin, 
without structured, supervised activities in the after- 
school hours, youth are at greater risk of being vic-
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tims of crime or participating in anti-social behav-
iors. Juveniles are at the highest risk of being a vic-
tim of crime between 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., and 
the peak hour for juvenile crime is between 3:00 
p.m. and 4:00 p.m., the first hour after most stu-
dents are dismissed from school. 
(10) The National Youth Violence Prevention 
Resource Center reported that students who spend 
no time in extracurricular activities, such as those 
offered in after-school programs, are 49 percent 
more likely to have used drugs and 37 percent more 
likely to become teen parents than are those stu-
dents who spend 1 to 4 hours per week in extra-
curricular activities. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are as follows: 
(1) To authorize the Secretary of Housing and 
Urban Development to establish and carry out an 
urban revitalization and livable communities pro-
gram to provide Federal grants for the rehabilitation 
and construction of critically needed recreational 
areas and facilities and development of improved 
recreation programs in urban areas. 
(2) To improve urban areas through economic 
development. 
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(3) To prevent and improve chronic disease out-
comes, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, de-
pression, and obesity. 
(4) To improve recreational areas and facilities 
and expand recreation services in urban areas with 
a high incidence of crime and to help expand recre-
ation opportunities for at-risk youth. 
(5) To promote collaboration between local 
agencies involved in parks and recreation, law en-
forcement, youth social services, and juvenile justice 
system. 
(6) To ensure accessibility to therapeutic recre-
ation services and to provide recreation opportunities 
for injured or disabled members of the Armed 
Forces. 
(7) To encourage the rehabilitation of existing 
and construction of new urban recreational areas 
and facilities with environmentally beneficial compo-
nents, when possible, such as sustainable landscape 
features and upcycled and recycled materials, and to 
prioritize the selection of projects that provide envi-
ronmental benefits to urban areas, including by up-
dating lighting, planting trees, increasing the urban 
forestry canopy, improving stormwater management, 
increasing green infrastructure, employing water 
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conservation measures, and adding green spaces to 
urban areas. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act, the following definitions shall apply: 
(1) The term ‘‘recreational areas and facilities’’ 
means indoor or outdoor parks, buildings, sites, or 
other facilities that are dedicated to recreation pur-
poses and administered by public or private non-
profit agencies to serve the recreation needs of com-
munity residents, with emphasis on public facilities 
readily accessible to residential neighborhoods, in-
cluding multiple-use community centers that have 
recreation as a primary purpose, but excluding 
major sports arenas, exhibition areas, and con-
ference halls used primarily for commercial sports, 
spectator, or display activities. 
(2) The term ‘‘rehabilitation and construction 
grants’’ means matching capital grants to local gov-
ernments for the purpose of rebuilding, remodeling, 
expanding, or developing existing or building new 
recreational areas and facilities, including improve-
ments in park landscapes, infrastructure, buildings, 
and support facilities, and the provision of lighting, 
emergency phones, or other capital improvements to 
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improve the security of urban parks, but excluding 
routine maintenance and upkeep activities. 
(3) The term ‘‘innovation grants’’ means 
matching grants to local governments to cover costs 
of personnel, facilities, equipment, supplies, or serv-
ices designed to demonstrate innovative and cost-ef-
fective ways to augment park and recreation oppor-
tunities at the neighborhood level and to address 
common problems related to facility operations and 
improved delivery of recreation service, but excluding 
routine operation and maintenance activities. 
(4) The term ‘‘at-risk youth recreation grants’’ 
means matching grants to local governments for new 
programs, or continuing program support for exist-
ing programs, that provide constructive alternatives 
to youth at risk for engaging in criminal behavior, 
including grants for operating or coordinating recre-
ation programs and services in neighborhoods and 
communities with a high prevalence of crime, par-
ticularly violent crime or crime committed by youth-
ful offenders. 
(5) The term ‘‘recovery action program grants’’ 
means matching grants to local governments for de-
velopment of local park and recreation recovery ac-
tion programs, including for resource and needs as-
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