Lets face it, language is important. Sure, the title ‘Comprehensive Plan’ is accurate but it doesn’t exactly foster an atmosphere of possibility, imagination or openness. In fact, it rather suggests something ‘definite’, something to be fought over and battled around instead of ‘Let’s think how we want our city to look, feel and function for the next couple of decades’ . Unless I am mistaken it is actually a framework and a series of goals, right? So why not change the name or modify it. Austin Tomorrow, the previous plan’s name is more interesting but in my opinion it’s not action oriented or suggestive of the distance that we should be looking in the future. How about Imagine Austin or Envision Austin or Re-Envision Austin or Austin 2040 or my personal creation that is admittedly dead in the water, Make Austin Weirder. Seriously though, if you want imagine and talk about the future, you’ve got to set the stage for it. No better way to get the ball rolling than to re-brand the entire affair. Have a City-wide competition to name it as well as raise awareness of the process. Someone out there can do a heck of a lot better than my, Envision Austin. more ›