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Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan

Big Ideas for a Vision for Austin's Future

At their regular meeting on March 9, the Task Force began working with public input to create a first-cut at the big ideas for the Vision statement. They broke into six tables, with the task of putting together 3 to 5 "Big Ideas" based on public input, as reflected in the Common Ground Working Paper, Strategic Issues Report, and statistically valid survey.

Group 1: Chair Margaret Cooper, Larry Gross, Jack Gullahorn, Lori Renteria

  1. Mobility: People will have access to multiple forms of transportation near homes, work, and play.
  2. Affordability: People have access to affordable housing (throughout the community) transportation, educational, opportunities, & healthcare.
  3. Opportunity: Austin citizens have employment & educational opportunities and culturally diverse activities and access to recreation in all parts of town.
  4. Security: Residents of Austin in 2039 will feel secure in all aspects of their daily life. Secure neighborhoods, access to social services, green energy & clean water.

Group 2: Perla Cavazos, Rob D'Amico, Mari Hernandez, Jennifer McPhail, Jonathan Ogren, Donna Tiemann

  1. Austin's robust transportation system is the foundation and life blood for access to our community.
  2. Economic Opportunities & Education: Equality achieved through access & opportunity for better education, employment & quality of life.
  3. Valuation of Ecosystem services in capital expenditures and access to open space for Austin citizens.
  4. Housing: Housing that is affordable diverse accessible & geographically dispersed throughout the city with access to important quality of life services.

Group 3: Greg Esparza, Ceci Gratias, Ora Houston, Charles Miles

  1. Austin will be a city that provides equitable opportunity for all its citizens that reverses segregated development patterns in terms of in come, ethnicity & educational level…
  2. Where there are multiple transportation options that are efficient, safe, sustainable.
  3. Where there are affordable housing option in all parts of the city that are opportunity oriented in terms of access to jobs, quality schools, transportation recreation.
  4. The unique diverse local character of Austin will be strongly supported and encouraged through the arts & culture communities, engaged community organizations, sustained parks & open space.
  5. Maintain and create a diverse job market that supports the long term viability & desirability of Austin.

Group 4: Roland Hayes, John Langmore, Karl-Thomas Musselman, Cookie Ruiz, Mark Yznaga

In 2039, Austin will…preserve uniqueness/ "Austin vibe"

  1. "City that works"
    • We got it done-
    • Basic services
      • Transportation
      • Education
      • Infrastructure
      • Health
  2. Shared opportunities for prosperity
    • Removing barriers to advance merit
    • Diverse/healthy economy
  3. Inclusive/meaning it (not just celebrating diversity)
    • All welcome at table
    • Acknowledging/rectifying past injustices!!
  4. Innovation/creative thought leader
    • solving challenges to creative community
    • incomes
    • opportunity
  5. Environment
    • Air
    • Water
    • Energy Use
    • Health
    • Environmental Justice

Group 5: Kent Collins, Mark Lind, Rebecca Melancon, Frances McIntyre, Fritz Steiner, Ira Yates

  1. Vibrant & Diverse Neighborhoods: Austin will foster safe, diverse, walkable and vibrant neighborhoods with affordable housing, good schools, and local businesses.
  2. Environment & Open Space: Austin should celebrate its natural endowments by protecting air and water quality as well as its creeks and lakes while expanding parks and open space.
  3. Transportation: Austin must reduce traffic congestion and expand interconnected, multi-modal transportation opportunities throughout the metropolitan region.
  4. Character: Austin will preserve and protect its unique character while expanding opportunities in the arts, music, and culture.
  5. Infrastructure: Austin will be the Athens of infrastructure by burying its power lines, improving its roads, curbs, sewers, and streetscapes; and employing state-of-the-art technologies.

Group 6: Roger Cauvin, Frances Ferguson, Regina Rogoff, Evan Taniguchi, Carol Torgrimson, Jerry Winetroub

Grand theme: Equity -- all parts of town. In 2039, all parts of Austin will share equitably in regards to affordability, opportunity, accessibility, and quality of life, consistent with protecting our natural resources. Our children and grandchildren will inherit a city that they still want to live in and are able to do so.

  1. In 2039, Austin's diverse households will be able to afford to live here thanks to housing balanced with mobility option, tax rates, utilities.
  2. We want an Austin in which residents share convenient access (mobility) to shopping entertainment, schools, open spaces, and other destinations and employment.
  3. Opportunity: Austin will have excellent schools, a vibrant job market with small business growth, medical services for everyone, and a safe, healthy population.
  4. Environment: Austin will be beautiful & environmentally sustainable- protecting water, air, parks, and historical beauty.

See the full results, including other key ideas that weren't included in each group's top 5.

WRT will take these results and use them to craft an initial draft of a Vision statement, to be reviewed by the Task Force at their April 13 meeting.

What are your thoughts?

-- GC

 




[Back] | [Add Comment]

Comment written by Ed Touchet on March 18, 2010 - 08:13 PM

I think you have a problem with scale. I was on one of these groups, and the desires of the people and the language has not changed. We get it. Now how do we make it happen? We can sit here and sing and hold hands until 2039, and we will not have accomplished a thing. What is the "action plan", the "way ahead"? I would love to be involved, how do I help? I have a master of Applied Geography from TXST-San Marcos, and I am mission oriented by training. Where do I start, and what can I help you get done. Ed.


Comment written by Greg Claxton on March 18, 2010 - 08:56 PM

Hi, Ed. Don't worry. Or, at least, don't worry too much. We're building toward the action plan. We start with common ground on where we want to go. And I understand, if you feel you've seen similar statements before, it's going to feel like we're not moving. But we are. It's just that part of our task was to not take anything as given. The next step is to ask people to reflect on the Vision and look at how growth should be directed. That's still going to be focused on discussing, rather than deciding. The step after that will be where we start making decisions: setting out a general framework for growth and for the rest of the comp plan.


Comment written by Greg Claxton on March 18, 2010 - 08:57 PM

(continued) After that -- basically, 2012 -- we'll shift into developing the action plan. There'll be opportunities for working in much more detail than what we've done to date. I know that seems like a long way off, but I think we have a solid process for getting to a plan with broad support and clear direction. I think the main help we need now is getting more people involved -- spreading the word, forwarding the survey, doing Meetings-in-a-Box. The better the start is, the cleaner we can finish.


Comment written by Greg Claxton on March 18, 2010 - 08:58 PM

Huh. I did not realize that line breaks don't show up as new paragraphs, or that we had a limit of length of comments. Good to know.


Comment written by Robert Rodriguez on March 19, 2010 - 09:48 AM

How did you get 2039,as a target date?What is wrong with 2015? I also have a problem with group 5. I am sure that the folks in group 5 are good honest people,but judging by the photo,I see six people that appear to be of anglo descent.So my question is, how can this group have an fair objective viewpoint of neighborhood planning,when I see no diversity within this group.One has had to have lived as a minority in this country, to truely understand,and appreciate what diversity really means.I have lived it.I grew up in a military family and have lived in different parts of the U.S. and overseas My point is,if you want true diversity,make the groups diverse.I would be willing to share my time and ideas as a member of this group.


Comment written by Greg Claxton on March 19, 2010 - 10:04 AM

Robert, we wound up with 2039 as a target because (1) it's 30 years from when we started (last year) and (2) it's Austin's bicentennial year. We thought those both resonated well with Imagine Austin. We mostly wanted a date that was far enough in the future that it was reasonable to think big. Later in the process, I expect we'll be working with actions at a range of scales--1 year, 5 year, 10 year, etc.


Comment written by Greg Claxton on March 19, 2010 - 10:11 AM

On your second point, I think there's a number of different things going on. First, the Task Force worked in smaller groups to facilitate discussion. No one group is going to have their results used directly. Second, all of the groups were working with the results of public input so far, including a statistically valid survey, to ensure a diverse starting point. Third, the Task Force has been meeting since October, and they've had a chance to get to know one another and where they're coming from. Last -- and this isn't apparent unless you know them -- Table 5 actually represents geographic diversity, bringing together folks from our urban core with folks from our Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction. I think we actually have a lot of different kinds of diversity going on in all of the groups.


Comment written by Ruth Heffron on April 09, 2010 - 04:00 PM

How does all this relate to the Downtown Austin Plan Phase I & II (DAP)




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