1979 – 2009
Before the plan
Find out about the previous Comprehensive Plan, finding a consultant, and designing the process.
1979 – 2008
Austin Tomorrow & the Interim Update
The current general plan for Austin is the Austin Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 1979. In 2006, the City Auditor called attention to the lack of coordination in the City's policies for growth and development. The first result of the auditor's report was an interim update to Austin Tomorrow, recognizing all of the city policies on growth and development adopted since 1979.
September 2008 – April 2009
Finding a consultant
In September 2008, City Council began the creation of a new Comprehensive Plan by approving the release of a Request for Qualifications, seeking a consultant to assist the City in creating the new plan. After a slate of applicants were whittled down to three finalists, the process was opened to the public. In April 2009, City Council selected a team of local and national consultants led by Wallace, Roberts, and Todd (WRT).
May – October 2009
Scoping Framework
Following the selection of the consultant, the City & WRT developed a "scope framework," a tool for guiding WRT's contract with the City, with review by the public, Planning Commission, and City Council. The Scope Framework created a three-phase process for creating the plan: Designing the process (phase 1), Vision & Plan Framework (phase 2), and The Comprehensive Plan (phase 3).
August – October 2009
Designing the process
The first phase of Imagine Austin set all of the pieces of the process in motion: developing a guide to engaging the public, assembling a Citizens Advisory Task Force, creating a data book about Austin, and formally kicking off the project.
August – September 2009
Participation Plan
More than 70 Austinites attended the first Imagine Austin public meeting, devoted to finding the best ways to engage the public throughout Imagine Austin. This meeting was also the pilot for Imagine Austin’s strategy of monitoring the demographics of meeting participants and following up with targeted efforts to overcome gaps. In this case, the follow-up was two focus groups that recruited non-white Austinites, as well as those with less than a Bachelor’s degree. Read a summary of the Participation Workshop and follow-up focus groups.
Out of these meetings, a Participation Plan was developed and endorsed by Planning Commission and City Council. The process it laid out addressed six key ideas: Open to all, Community engagement, Transparency, Enthusiastic and vibrant, Engaging underrepresented groups, and Fun.
August - October 2009
Citizens Advisory Task Force
More than 230 people applied to be on the Imagine Austin Citizens Advisory Task Force. Of them, 33 were appointed by City Council, with another four (with four alternates) recommended by Travis County Commissioners. The Task Force began meeting in October 2009 and continues to meet monthly (and sometimes more often) throughout the process.
Community Inventory
The Community Inventory was created to be the main source of data about the City for the Imagine Austin process. Review the Community Inventory's chapters, along with additional sources of data on Austin and Central Texas.
October 2009
Kick-Off Open House
Imagine Austin formally launched the public process at the Kick-Off Open House on October 12. More than 230 members of the public, plus another 40 children from Austin recreation centers, attended. The evening included 10 information and activity booths, including a trivia game for kids. This fun night of music and planning laid the foundation for the first Community Forum Series and community Vision for Austin's future. See what the participants told us about Austin today and tomorrow.
October 2009 – March 2011
Vision & plan framework
Phase 2, the big middle of the Imagine Austin process, combined data about Austin with broad public engagement to create a Vision for Austin in 2039, along with key directions for change to achieve the Vision.
October 2009 – March 2010
Community Forum Series #1
The first task in Phase 2 was the first Community Forum Series, six public meetings held across the City the week of November 9, plus a survey and a new tool for Austin, Meetings-in-a-Box, which were available through March 2010. The results of the first Community Forum Series were compiled into a Common Ground Working Paper and served as the foundation for the Vision.
January 2010
Susceptibility to Change analysis
Susceptibility to Change is used to generally indicate the likelihood that an area will change in the near future. Change can include new development on previously undeveloped land, redevelopment, change of use, or intensification of use. Eleven factors were mapped across the entire planning area, and then compiled into a single Susceptibility to Change map.
January – March 2010
Strategic Issues Report
The Strategic Issues Report combines public input, review of the Community Inventory, and the results of the consultant teams' stakeholder interviews to provide a snapshot of the key issues facing Austin.
February 2010
Statistically valid survey
A statistically valid survey (summary results | full 4 MB report) was constructed to test the results of the first Community Forum Series against a random selection of Austinites. The survey was designed to provide a representative survey of Austin and the ETJ, as well as each of the five geographic outreach areas, matched to Austin's race and ethnicity demographics.
April – May 2010
Community Forum Series #2
The second Community Forum Series consisted of four meetings, in two parts: (1) a review of the Components of a Vision Statement and (2) a chip exercise, where participants allocated Austin's future growth across the city and in different forms. Community Forum Series #2 also featured a second round of surveys and Meetings-in-a-Box focusing on the Components of the Vision statement.
April – August 2010
Creating the Vision
Creating the Vision began with Community Forum Series #1, when the public was asked about Austin's strengths and weaknesses and what the city should be like on its 200th anniversary, 2039. The Task Force reviewed preliminary results and developed key ideas to be represented in the Vision. The public reviewed components of the Vision at Community Forum Series #2. Using those results, the Task Force prepared a final Vision statement, which was endorsed by City Council in August 2010.
Summer 2010
Alternate future scenarios
The chip maps created by the public in Community Forum Series #2 were reviewed and assessed for the different ways they accommodated Austin’s anticipated growth. Four different approaches were identified. A separate future scenario was created for each approach, along with a fifth scenario representing what is likely to happen if trends continued. These five scenarios were assessed on a variety of sustainability indicators, to be used by the public in assessing the scenarios in Community Forum Series #3. (The Austin of today was also assessed on the indicators, to create an existing conditions report.)
September – October 2010
Community Forum Series #3
The third Community Forum Series consisted of nine Open House meetings, accompanied by Community Conversation kits and a paper and online survey. Participants were invited to rate the Alternate Future Scenarios and show which indicators were important to them.
March 2011
Plan Framework / Preferred Scenario
The final products of Phase 2, the Plan Framework and Preferred Scenario set out key strategic directions the city needs to take to achieve the Vision. The Plan Framework contains policy guidance, while the Preferred Scenario (smaller PDF | larger PDF) shows the spatial patterns of growth that support the Vision. They were reviewed by Planning Commission and City Council and, in March 2011, were forwarded to the Working Groups for more detailed work.
March 2011 – current
The Comprehensive Plan
A draft plan is released for community review.
March – August 2011
Working Groups
Hundreds of Austin residents and area leaders joined seven Working Groups and worked together crafting actions that address key strategic directions for the city.
October 1, 2011
Imagine Austin Release Party
More than 600 Austinites celebrated Ausitn's future with live music, local grub and an opportunity to review the draft comprehenisve plan and give input using the Imagine Austin Priorities Survey.
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