URBAN DEVELOPMENT ACTION GRANTS REVISITED

The Urban Development Block Grant (UDAG) program evolved from preceding programs in aid of distressed communities, including permitting local officials and private businesses wide berth in making deals for UDAG utilization and actively recruiting small cities to participate. This case study examines the impact these evolutionary departures had in two small cities-Follansbee, WV, and Farrell, PA-which received multi-million dollar UDAGs for steel projects in 1984 and 1988, respectively. Although the two cities had much in common economically, their use of UDAG funds was quite dissimilar. Outcomes were vastly disparate, raising questions about the ability of small communities, particulary those dominated by one declining company, to make appropriate decisions regarding program participation, as well as larger issues of federal intervention. Copyright 2000 by The Policy Studies Organization.