Twenty two cities ranging in size from Los Angeles to Port Townsend, Wash., have been awarded federal grants and guaranteed loans totaling $129 million to help them clean up environmentally distressed neighborhoods within the borders.

The funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development comes in two forms $104 million in Section 108 loans and $25 million in Brownfields Economic Development Initiative grants.

Sec. 108 loans allow localities to promote economic development, expand housing opportunities and improve public facilities, all at reduced rates. BECI money allows cities to start the ball rolling on cleaning up such industrial sites as gas stations, oil storage facilities, dry cleaning stores and other business that handled polluting substances.

The funding is expected to generate up to $1.4 billion in private investment to re-energize the economies of the 22 communities. But more important, at least to Uncle Sam, the money also will help create nearly 17,000 new jobs. "Jobs, jobs, jobs; that's what these two programs are all about," said HUD Sec. Andrew Cuomo.

The grants and loans can be used either separately or together. In Buffalo, N.Y., for example, the city will use a BECI grant to pay off an old Sec. 108 loan and a new loan to clean up the old Union Ship Canal and prepare the site for new life, creating some 900 jobs in the process.

Other communities receiving money in this round of funding include: Baltimore; Carson, El Monte, Lynwood, Monterey Park and San Mateo, Calif.; Jersey City and Phillipsburg, N.J.; Kansas City, Kansas; Lowell, Mass.; Montgomery County and Reading, Pa.; Portland, Maine; Provo City, Utah; Rochester and Troy, N.Y.; St. Paul; San Antonio and South Bend.

Published: August 22, 2000

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When Lew Sichelman first started writing about housing in 1969, he was the youngest real estate writer in the country. Now, 37 years later, he's one of the oldest -- and most decorated. He has been rated the top housing columnist in the country by the National Association of Realtors as well as by his peers in the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Indeed, NAREE has recognized his work on numerous occasions. One year - due to his advancing age, he can't recall which one - he earned top honors in the annual NAREE Journalism Contest in three out of the four major writing categories. It was the first time one writer has won so many NAREE awards in a single year. Known for his ability to make even the most difficult topics understandable, Sichelman also has been honored by the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association. He began providing in-depth coverage of and consumer-oriented information about housing and housing finance at the Washington Daily News, where he was real estate editor. He held that same position for nine more years at the Washington Star, which purchased the News in 1972. The Star, a so-called "writer's newspaper" which also had the misfortune of being an evening paper, was put out of its misery in 1981, and Sichelman, who had begun self-syndicating his column in 1978, decided to become a full-time columnist. Today, his column, "The Housing Scene," is distributed by United Media to newspapers throughout the country. He also is on the staff of National Mortgage News, an independent newspaper which is considered the bible of the mortgage business. And he writes for numerous other publications, including MarketWatch.com, where he answers readers questions once a week, Sports Illustrated (don't ask), RealtyTimes.com, BigBuilder and others. Sichelman is married, the father of five and grandfather of eleven.