2. Imagine Austin takes its direction from the public Five Big Ideas coming out of the plan How to participate in planning process Discuss your priorities and issues Presentation Overview
5. What should the city be like in 30 years? 5,892 How should we grow into the future? 4,211 What do we need to do differently? 4,741 Total Participation 14,844 Community-wide participation
6. Five Big Ideas Sustainability Become a compact, connected city Provide paths to prosperity for all Embrace the natural world Grow a healthy, affordable city Live within our resources
14. Plan Adoption Public Review Period Citizens Advisory Task Force: September to December 2011 Public Comments: September to October 31st Adoption Process Planning Commission: January 2012 City Council: Spring 2012 It’s not too late to get involved
15.
Notas do Editor
Introduce yourself Thanks for having us What a comprehensive plan is. Long term (30 yr) guiding document to ensure that our city and surrounding region grows and prospers Provides policy direction Prioritizes capital improvement projects
The Four things I want you to take away from today: The draft Imagine Austin Comp Plan is the work from a very broad segment of the Austin public A sense of the plan, as it relates to what you’re interested in (what we’re going to spend most of the presentation on) Ways you can participate as we near the end of this process Finally, you’ll have an opportunity to discuss your priorities and I’ll tell you how they are reflected in Imagine Austin. As an FYI, after this meeting, I’ll send your group an email, summarizing your priorities. I’ll then highlight where your priorities issues are addressed in Imagine Austin.
The First BIG IDEA is that Austin should become a compact and connected city. Our Growth Concept Map seen to the right of this slide very generally shows where we want to grow in the future. The map is primarily organized small, medium and large mixed use activity centers (or neighborhood centers, town centers and regional centers) , where different intensity of uses (commercial, residential, work centers, civic and cultural uses) are situated close together and are easy to walk and bike to and around. Mixed use corridors (yellow ribbons) are used to connect these centers together . We also have big job centers (purple areas) for warehousing or industrial jobs that aren’t compatible with residential areas. This plan generally builds on Austin’s existing north-south orientation : MoPac, I-35, 183, 130, Red Line, LoneStar rail. It emphasizes Redevelopment as opposed to developing over new lands. Favors Mixed over separated uses Compactness helps with environmental preservation and makes Austin more sustainable. Imagine Austin is all tied together with a complete transportation system – which works for pedestrians, cyclists, automobile and transit users, with the automobile only being one of many transportation options to move us around our compact and connected city.
Council gave us three themes to guide our planning process Engagement: The community provides the direction for the plan Sustainability: how do we promote Austin’s long-term sustainability of our economy, environment, and social equity? (these are FIVE ‘Big Ideas’ I’ll go over soon in this presentation) Implementation: This plan won’t sit on the shelf because we’re creating an active planning program to implement our priority actions as set forth in this plan.
We had three rounds of broad-based public input, where there were many ways to participate during each round (public meetings, surveys, Meetings-in-a-Box, teams that went out to public events to talk to people). During each ROUND, we obtained demographic information to find out who we were reaching, and adjusted our outreach accordingly. GO OVER QUESTIONS ON SLIDE Each round OR COMMUNITY FORUM SERIES was built around a different question. 1: What should the city be like in 30 years? Big picture -- what are Austin’s strengths, weaknesses, and how can the city improve in the future? (i.e. our Vision) 2: How should we grow in the future? Where should future housing and jobs go? 3: What do we need to do differently to change how we grow?
Sustainability is covered by the FIVE BIG IDEAS that came out Imagine Austin. During the Working Group public workshops, citizens developed 230 actions that are included the Imagine Austin. These BIG IDEAS are intended to make Austin a more sustainable and livable community in the future. All 230 actions can be included under one or several of the BIG IDEAS I will now go over.
The First BIG IDEA is that Austin should become a compact and connected city. Our Growth Concept Map seen to the right of this slide very generally shows where we want to grow in the future. The map is primarily organized small, medium and large mixed use activity centers (or neighborhood centers, town centers and regional centers) , where different intensity of uses (commercial, residential, work centers, civic and cultural uses) are situated close together and are easy to walk and bike to and around. Mixed use corridors (yellow ribbons) are used to connect these centers together . We also have big job centers (purple areas) for warehousing or industrial jobs that aren’t compatible with residential areas. This plan generally builds on Austin’s existing north-south orientation : MoPac, I-35, 183, 130, Red Line, LoneStar rail. It emphasizes Redevelopment as opposed to developing over new lands. Favors Mixed over separated uses Compactness helps with environmental preservation and makes Austin more sustainable. Imagine Austin is all tied together with a complete transportation system – which works for pedestrians, cyclists, automobile and transit users, with the automobile only being one of many transportation options to move us around our compact and connected city.
The SECOND BIG IDEA is Paths to Prosperity , is expanding and creating educational and employment opportunities so everyone can make a good living We’ve heard from the public that they want to --- Create a healthy business environment to attract and expand businesses Encourage green industries Assist local businesses, that contribute to our local economy and Austin’s unique character Nurture Austin’s entrepreneurial spirit and attract the best and brightest to live and work here. Sustain and encourage healthy neighborhoods that support families Prepare today's kids for tomorrows jobs, by working with school districts, universities and industry to provide better opportunities for all.
The THIRD BIG IDEA in achieving sustainability is preserving and enhancing upon our natural resources …. The public said they --- Want us to use our greenways, creeks, and rivers to create a connected green infrastructure system, to include parks, trails, greenbelts, rivers, creeks More green infrastructure serves many functions: recreation, environmental conservation, and transportation Also want to better integrate nature into the city by incorporating innovative stormwater features and sustaining and expanding a healthy urban forest On a larger scale , two feature will help define Austin’s green infrastructure system, namely: Protection of Edwards Aquifer , which frames the west Building a protected creek and floodplain system , which frames the east
The FOURTH BIG IDEA is that we want the Austin area to grow in a ways that maintains and improves our affordability . The public said they --- Want Austin to be a place where families stay and thrive Provide a variety of affordable housing choices throughout Austin . Encourage Complete Communities , which means your job, shopping, cultural, recreational, entertainment options and school and medical facilities are all available within a 20 minute walk of where you live We also need to work to keep our transportation and utility costs down Developing a healthy community means giving people the opportunity to walk and bike to where they want to go, instead of relying on a car.
Finally, our FIFTH BIG IDEA is doing a better job of living within our resources: This includes keeping our air and water clean in our region Recent drought conditions and record heat underscore the importance of improving our stewardship of water resources and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. A number of actions in our plan seek to make Austin more resilient , particularly in times of drought, by adapting to our future climate by using less potable water, and recycling and re-using more of our water.
An implementation program is critical to make Imagine Austin a reality. We have three tools to implement the plan: First, the plan will direct how the city spends money for infrastructure on various department programs and projects. Second, the plan will direct us how we need to change our regulations, including the creation of a new land development code. Lastly, the plan’s vision exceeds what the City can do on its own. We need to work with partners in the community – residents, other governments (including school districts), private sector businesses, and non-profits – to work toward a common goal.
Imagine Austin will be implemented through EIGHT ONGOING priority programs. The goals of the priority programs reflect the Imagine Austin core principles. Each program has a number of associated actions that will achieve the goal of the program. We are currently working toward many of the goals contained within these programs and are not starting from scratch. However, Imagine Austin will enable all partners to pull together and bring our existing efforts to the next level.
As the plan is a draft, we are inviting public input to review the draft. We invite you to review the draft plan and provide us with feedback. Please follow the Public Comments schedule. The first step in the adoption process is to receive Planning Commission’s approval to forward Imagine Austin to City Council. From there, we will present Imagine Austin to City Council for their approval. We plan to present Imagine Austin to Planning Commission in January 2012 and to City Council in the Spring.
Follow along with the plan at our website, facebook, or twitter. Go to Imagine Austin to see latest draft of plan. Ask if they have any questions or priorities they are interested in seeing addressed