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Colonias Communities

Published by Office of Policy Development and Research, GIS Helpdesk and Open Data Division | Department of Housing and Urban Development | Catalog Last Checked: October 28, 2026 at 01:18 AM | Dataset Last Updated: August 16, 2023 at 07:24 PM
This service denotes the locations of colonias communities as defined in Section 916 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act of 1990. In order to better serve colonia residents, the National Affordable Housing Act of 1990 (as amended) included Section 916 which called for the border states of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas to set aside a percentage of their annual State CDBG allocations for use in the colonias. The use of these set aside funds is to help meet the needs of the colonias residents in relationship to the need for potable water, adequate sewer systems, or decent, safe and sanitary housing. Therefore, the set-aside funds may be utilized for any CDBG eligible activity that is, or is in conjunction with, a potable water, sewer or housing activity. This s ervice denotes the locations of colonias communities as defined in Section 916 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act of 1990. In order to better serve colonia residents, the National Affordable Housing Act of 1990 (as amended) included Section 916 which called for the border states of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas to set aside a percentage of their annual State CDBG allocations for use in the colonias. The use of these set aside funds is to help meet the needs of the colonias residents in relationship to the need for potable water, adequate sewer systems, or decent, safe and sanitary housing. Therefore, the set-aside funds may be utilized for any CDBG eligible activity that is, or is in conjunction with, a potable water, sewer or housing activity. Per Section 916 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act of 1990, a "colonia" refers to any community that meets the following criteria: (A) is in the State of Arizona, California, New Mexico, or Texas; (B) is in the area of the United States within 150 miles of the border between the United States and Mexico, except that the term does not include any standard metropolitan statistical area that has a population exceeding 1,000,000; (C) is designated by the State or county in which it is located as a colonia; (D) is determined to be a colonia on the basis of objective criteria, including lack of potable  water supply, lack of adequate sewage systems, and lack of decent, safe, and sanitary housing, and; (E) was in existence and generally recognized as a colonia before the date of the enactment of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act. To learn more about the State Community Development Block Grant Colonias Set-Aside visit: https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/cdbg-colonias/, for questions about the spatial attribution of this dataset, please reach out to us at GISHelpdesk@hud.gov. Date of Coverage: 2019

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Complete Metadata
@type Dataset
accessRights Public
accrualPeriodicity asNeeded
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[
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description This service denotes the locations of colonias communities as defined in Section 916 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act of 1990. In order to better serve colonia residents, the National Affordable Housing Act of 1990 (as amended) included Section 916 which called for the border states of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas to set aside a percentage of their annual State CDBG allocations for use in the colonias. The use of these set aside funds is to help meet the needs of the colonias residents in relationship to the need for potable water, adequate sewer systems, or decent, safe and sanitary housing. Therefore, the set-aside funds may be utilized for any CDBG eligible activity that is, or is in conjunction with, a potable water, sewer or housing activity. This s ervice denotes the locations of colonias communities as defined in Section 916 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act of 1990. In order to better serve colonia residents, the National Affordable Housing Act of 1990 (as amended) included Section 916 which called for the border states of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas to set aside a percentage of their annual State CDBG allocations for use in the colonias. The use of these set aside funds is to help meet the needs of the colonias residents in relationship to the need for potable water, adequate sewer systems, or decent, safe and sanitary housing. Therefore, the set-aside funds may be utilized for any CDBG eligible activity that is, or is in conjunction with, a potable water, sewer or housing activity. Per Section 916 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act of 1990, a "colonia" refers to any community that meets the following criteria: (A) is in the State of Arizona, California, New Mexico, or Texas; (B) is in the area of the United States within 150 miles of the border between the United States and Mexico, except that the term does not include any standard metropolitan statistical area that has a population exceeding 1,000,000; (C) is designated by the State or county in which it is located as a colonia; (D) is determined to be a colonia on the basis of objective criteria, including lack of potable  water supply, lack of adequate sewage systems, and lack of decent, safe, and sanitary housing, and; (E) was in existence and generally recognized as a colonia before the date of the enactment of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act. To learn more about the State Community Development Block Grant Colonias Set-Aside visit: https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/cdbg-colonias/, for questions about the spatial attribution of this dataset, please reach out to us at GISHelpdesk@hud.gov. Date of Coverage: 2019
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identifier https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=0ddba0a992cb4a73933ff9be09a1c76c
issued 2023-08-07
keyword 
[
  "Boundaries",
  "CPD",
  "Colonias",
  "Community Development Programs",
  "Community Planning and Development",
  "Economy",
  "Governmental Units",
  "HUD",
  "Location",
  "Point",
  "Society",
  "US Department of Housing and Urban Development",
  "and Administrative and Statistical Boundaries",
  "hud.official.content"
]
landingPage 
{
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  "@type": "Document",
  "title": "Colonias Communities landing page"
}
modified 2023-08-16T19:24:04.180Z
programCode 
[
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]
publisher 
{
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  "@type": "org:Organization",
  "subOrganizationOf": [
    {
      "name": "U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development",
      "@type": "org:Organization"
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}
rights 
[
  "HUD and the dataset and metadata authors assume no responsibility for the use or misuse of the dataset. No warranty, expressed or implied is made with regard to the accuracy of the spatial accuracy, and no liability is assumed by the U.S. Government in general, the dataset creators or the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development specifically, as to the spatial or attribute accuracy of the data."
]
spatial 
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    "type": "Polygon",
    "coordinates": [
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  "@type": "Location",
  "prefLabel": "United States and Minor Outlying Islands"
}
title Colonias Communities

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