July 18, 2003
Liveable City Briefing:
Envision Central Texas (ECT) - Part I - “Shape Our Future”
 This is the first in a series on the upcoming Envision Central Texas “Shape Our Future” Community Vision Survey scheduled for this fall.
• Below is a comprehensive and easily accessible overview of Envision Central Texas (ECT) and the Community Vision Survey process.
• Liveable City, though independent from ECT, believes the ECT process will have a vital and lasting impact on the vision of Austin's future.
• Please share this newsletter with your family, friends and neighbors.
What is Envision Central Texas?
Envision Central Texas (ECT) is a five county regional visioning process created to build a consensus vision for future land use and transportation planning in our region. ECT is a visioning process, not a plan; it allows members of the community to describe their preferences for future growth. The project is designed to address the 1.25 million additional people that are projected to live in Central Texas during the next 20 to 40 years with a goal of preserving and enhancing the region’s quality of life. Funded primarily by public entities, representatives from business, neighborhood, environmental and other stakeholder groups from Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties have been working for almost two years on the project.
What could a successful ECT process mean to our community?
This fall’s “Shape Our Future” community vision survey will be the first real opportunity for Central Texans to say what kind of future they want to live in. Never before have we examined growth in our region in such a comprehensive manner, with the analysis to understand the consequences and the tradeoffs of our decisions.
It is an opportunity for tens of thousands of people to demand the quality of life and the future they want for themselves and their families. If successful, ECT will result in the first steps in creating a viable consensus vision for our region, which will shape our future for decades to come.
What is Liveable City’s relationship to Envision Central Texas?
Liveable City is an independent nonprofit organization working to improve the social, economic, and environmental quality of life for the people of Austin. Liveable City’s grassroots effort to encourage broad participation in the ECT regional visioning survey is just one of the group's projects.
Envision Central Texas is a five county separate non-profit, which has come together to develop a regional land use and transportation vision for the future. While using some maps and analysis generated by ECT consultants, all Liveable City materials are the opinion of the Liveable City board and produced independently of ECT.
Envision Central Texas Overview
A key part of the ECT process has been the development of four future growth scenarios. Developed with feedback from public workshops conducted last fall, the four scenarios project future land use and transportation growth patterns.
Using analytical tools such as mapping, surveys, and data modeling, a broad range of indicators have been examined. These include transportation, jobs, social equity, land consumption, population density, reinvestment, environment, and housing.
The scenario analysis enables Central Texas residents to consider the impacts and tradeoffs of various future development patterns.
This fall, the people of Central Texas will have the opportunity to express their opinion on the growth scenarios in the “Shape Our Future” Community Vision survey. Because ECT is a visioning process and not a plan, the survey responses will not replace or compete with pre-existing master plans.
After the survey is completed, the consultant will present a “consensus scenario” compiled from the community's responses. The ECT board or other organizations may then recommend implementation strategies. It will be up to the citizens and their elected officials over the next decade to determine how much of the vision becomes a reality.
The ECT Process: Developing Future Growth Scenarios
The principal tools developed during the ECT process are growth scenarios, which represent possible future regional growth patterns. ECT consultants have developed four scenarios from responses to workshops held last fall that elicited participant’s growth pattern preferences. The scenarios are designed to help analyze the impacts and tradeoffs of different land use and transportation patterns. Each of the four scenarios assumes that an additional 1.25 million people will live in Central Texas over the next 20 to 40 years.
While that estimate is controversial, no projections show Central Texas declining or stabilizing in population in the coming decades. Liveable City believes there is value in comparing the scenarios regardless of divergent points of view regarding population growth.
The Four Land Use Scenarios
The following are short descriptions of the four growth scenarios developed from ECT documents. A more in-depth analysis of the scenarios will be covered in a later newsletter.
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Scenario A – Informally referred to as the “ current trends” scenario, this scenario projects the trends of the past ten years into their likely implications 20 to 40 years ahead. Central Texas continues to sprawl rapidly outward in all directions, consuming a large number of undeveloped acres. Housing choice is limited, and the transportation network continues to be automobile–oriented while adding a commuter rail line. New jobs in the region are concentrated in Travis County.
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Scenario B – Informally referred to as the “roads corridor” scenario, this scenario consolidates growth within one mile of the IH-35 and SH-130 road corridors. More mixed-use development and reinvestment allows commuter rail and Bus Rapid Transit while conserving undeveloped land and the sensitive aquifer zone more than Scenario A.
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Scenario C – Sometimes referred to as the “mixed-use new towns” scenario, this pattern focuses growth in new and existing towns across the region. More mixed-use development and reinvestment than Scenario B allows commuter rail and Bus Rapid Transit with a streetcar system in Austin, which conserves more undeveloped land than Scenarios A and B and conserves the most aquifer zone of any Scenario. Employment distribution and diversity of housing are greater than A and B.
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Scenario D –In this "compact city" pattern, the highest degree of infill and reinvestment is concentrated in the existing Travis County urban core. It consumes the least amount of undeveloped land, with little aquifer zone affected. Scenario D offers the greatest housing and transportation options including commuter rail, Bus Rapid Transit and light rail.
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ECT Scenario Indicators
ECT consultants have developed indicators to assist in analyzing the different growth scenarios.
Along with specific issue analysis in the areas of transportation, the economy and social equity; indicators for land use, land consumption, mixed use and separate-use development, population density, reinvestment, environment, and housing diversity are being developed for each scenario. These indicators are important tools for understanding the tradeoffs involved in future land use and transportation decisions with each scenario.
Click Here for Transportation, Economy, and Social Equity issue information.
The “Shape Our Future” Community Vision Survey
This fall, during a three-week period, residents of Central Texas will have the opportunity to express their opinion on the four growth scenarios and to voice their hopes and concerns on the future. The survey will be available online as well as distributed in publications such as the Austin American Statesman and by community organizations across the region.
Questions will include preferences on each scenario by issue, such as transportation systems, housing options, land preservation and others. The questionnaire is being drafted during July and will be finalized by mid August. A more complete discussion of the “Shape Our Future” Community Vision Survey will be covered in a later newsletter. If you or your organization, church, or neighborhood group would like to distribute the survey to your members, please contact Liveable City by email or call us at 481-8400.
Will the ECT “Shape Our Future” Community Vision Survey results be implemented?
ECT is a visioning process; it is not a plan. After the survey is completed, the consultant will present the complied responses to the ECT board as a “consensus scenario.” Then, the ECT board or a follow-up organization may recommend a series of implementation strategies to carry forward the ”consensus scenario.” ECT does not have any regional authority of its own. It will be up to the citizens and their elected officials over the next decade to determine how much of the vision becomes a reality through local planning efforts.
Liveable City supports community dialog and believes that ECT is a valuable tool for fostering discussion about our future. On the sidebar to your right are just a few of the questions that should be raised when considering future scenarios on ECT’s “Shape Our Future" Community Vision Survey.
Liveable City’s Goal: Higher Participation in the “Shape Our Future” Community Vision Survey
Liveable City believes ECT is an important opportunity for our members to become engaged in discussions about our future and give everyone a say in how our region grows. Liveable City is organizing a community outreach program to ensure larger public participation and a more complete community discussion.
Liveable City is working with representatives of community organizations on downloadable web materials, leaflets, and tabling a wide variety of community functions. If you or your organization would like to be involved in this effort please contact Brian at 481-8400.
Don't Let Others Decide the Future Without You.
Click here to volunteer with Liveable City and increase participation in the ECT process.
Next in the series - Envision Central Texas - Part II - Critical Issues |
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Important ECT Dates
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• July 10, 2003
Final land use and transportation scenarios presented to ECT board.
• Last week of July 2003
Scenario briefings for elected officials across the region.
• August 1, 2003
Beginning of community briefing period.
• Fall, 2003
Shape Our Future Community Vision Survey begins.
• January 2004
"Community Consensus Scenario" based on survey results, presented to ECT board.
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| A Few Key Questions for the Upcoming ECT Community Debate |
• What are the consequences if Central Texas continues to sprawl at a rapid pace?
• Will we have more or less congestion if we build all the roads that are currently planned?
• What transit alternatives make the most sense for the long term in Central Texas?
• What are the implications of increased density on existing neighborhoods?
• How can we preserve the rural character and the unique local culture of our communities?
• How do land use and transportation decisions affect economic opportunity for all citizens?
• What trade-offs are we willing to make to have the community quality of life we desire?
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| Tell Your Organization |
| Please contact us to get materials and information for distribution to your organization |
We Want to Keep Working on Critical Issues in Austin With Your Help.
Join Liveable City today. |
Liveable City is a community organization working to improve quality of life for all of Austin. To perform our mission and keep working on the issues you care about, we need your financial support.
Please consider becoming a member of Liveable City to help support our mission. You can find out more by clicking the link above or simply replying to this email. |
| We are in need of volunteers to help spread the word about the important ECT process! |
| Want to Help? Click Here or just reply to this email to sign up! |
| Ask Us Your Questions! |
| Have questions about the ECT process? Send them in! Each week we will gather and answer questions on our web site. |
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