Department of Metropolitan Development (DMD) Director Scarlett Andrews outlined the City's first stages of affordable housing projects and programs with the City of Indianapolis’ American Rescue Plan Act and community development funding. DMD’s presentation rolled out $6,020,000 for multi-family housing developments, anti-displacement programming, and homelessness services.

EmployIndy has publicly launched the Good Wages Initiative (GWI) in Marion County which certifies, celebrates, and showcases Marion County employers that have voluntarily committed to providing full-time employees both a wage of at least $18/hour and access to employer-sponsored health insurance benefits.

INDIANAPOLIS – Today, the Indianapolis Office of Sustainability released its second annual report on metrics outlined in Thrive Indianapolis ("Thrive"), which is the first sustainability and resilience action plan in our city's history. Reporting on the previous year’s accomplishments, and published today on Earth Day, read the 2021 Thrive Annual Report here.

In honor of Earth Day this week, Bloomberg Cities takes a closer look at 9 solutions emerging from the American Cities Climate Challenge that can inspire city leaders everywhere.

A lot of cities have climate-action plans but don’t have systems in place to deliver on big promises. That’s what makes the data-driven delivery plan surrounding Indianapolis’ sustainability plan so important.

Thriving Buildings is the resulting initiative following the City-County Council's passage of the benchmarking and transparency ordinance last summer, bringing with it the potential to significantly reduce utility costs, create jobs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the built environment, and improve overall air quality citywide.

Indianapolis’ Office of Sustainability on Tuesday launched the first phase of its building utility tracking and transparency program, bolstered by a new $25,000 equity-oriented award. Called Thriving Buildings, the program’s initial phase includes voluntary participation by private building owners while mandating participation for some municipal buildings.

The Thriving Buildings program from Indianapolis’ Office of Sustainability allows building owners and operators benchmarking capability through the EPA’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager. Buildings can track meter data to identify ways to reduce energy and water usage, compare with other structures, and provide their usage data to the city.

Interest is on the rise, according to the Department of Public Works, which adopted late last month its first cohesive policy for handling the temporary, low-cost installations that are widely known as tactical urbanism.

The Indianapolis Office of Sustainability today announced that environmental reporting efforts this year will include the submission of a "science-based target" as an interim checkpoint for achieving citywide carbon neutrality by the year 2050.

Work to prepare Central Indiana communities to be more resilient in the face of climate change is ongoing.

With a closing date last Thursday, February 24, 2022, the Series 2022C bonds issued by the Indianapolis Local Public Improvement Bond Bank have been designated as “green bonds” due to their alignment with sustainable development goals.

Get ready for some greener laws. Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration has already moved on some big-ticket items, such as 2019’s wide-ranging Thrive Indianapolis climate resiliency plan and last summer’s utility-usage tracking program for large buildings.

Today Mayor Joe Hogsett announced that the IndyRent rental assistance program has reached a milestone of over $100 million distributed to Indianapolis tenants. Nearly 45,000 applications have been approved since the program began in 2020.

City officials in Indianapolis hope a new bus line targeting the needs of low-income residents will be the catalyst that transforms an underinvested corridor through economic development.

"It will help address food deserts in underserved communities. It will cultivate youth leadership and it will encourage and provide for school gardens year round," said Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett.

“There are no requirements, the event is free,” Hannah Scott, spokesperson for the city of Indianapolis, said. “The ride will be a mix of trails and roads that will go past 10 completed, ongoing and upcoming [Department of Public Works] projects.”

The Indianapolis Office of Sustainability and the Department of Public Works hosted another successful post-holiday electronics recycling (E-Cycle) event this past Saturday at Garfield Park. During the five hour event, 603 cars and bicycles attended, recycling 60,689 total pounds of material.

The Indianapolis Department of Public Works and Indy Parks are once again teaming up to accept live Christmas trees for recycling at multiple drop-off points in public parks throughout the city.

The Indianapolis Office of Sustainability is spreading the word about the risks of extreme cold and individual actions you can take to keep warm during the dark days of winter. Part of the office's mission is to empower residents to be more resilient in the face of a changing climate.

Earth Charter Indiana has received a $225,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture grant that will support expansion of its Thriving Schools Challenge with the development of gardens at K-12 schools throughout the state.