Envision Central Texas is hosting eight public meetings over the next few weeks to discuss growth-related issues in the Central Texas Region and gather citizens opinions and ideas. ECT is also collecting input on a regional growth questionnaire available in English and Spanish. Five years ago, Envision Central Texas asked citizens to weigh in on how they would like to see our region grow, including how and where land is developed for housing and jobs, the types of homes we live in, how we travel around the region, and how we treat our environment. The input from thousands of Central Texans formed the basis of a regional Vision which describes the features and priorities that citizens deemed critical to preserving and enhancing our quality of life. ECT is currently conducting a Vision Progress Assessment to determine how the region has changed since 2003, if it is moving toward the Vision and identify the priorities for moving forward. We want your opinion! Please come to a Regional Growth Meeting and invite your friends and neighbors to attend. Also, please fill out the regional growth questionnaire. If you have questions, please email Wendy Peeples at ECT at wpeeples@envisioncentraltexas.org or call her at 512-916-6012.

On March 7, Envision Central Texas Chairman Jim Walker, AICP, executive director of the Central Texas Sustainability Indicators Project, was named 2008 Austinite of the Year Under 40 by the Young Women's Alliance and the Young Men's Business League. In additon to serving on the ECT Board of Directors for six years, Walker has served as a spokesperson for the Mueller Neighborhood Coalition while stewarding the community vision for the 700-acre redevelopment of Austin's former airport based on new urbanist principals. He is also on the board of Liveable City and previously, the Austin Neighborhoods Council. Walker is a graduate of the Community and Regional Planning Program at the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, is certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners, and was recently appointed as a Research Fellow at the Center for Sustainable Development at UT-Austin.

On March 19, ECT Board Member Wade Cooper, managing partner of the Austin office of Jackson Walker, LLP, was named co-chair of the Envision Central Texas Transportation and Land Use Committee. He joins Elgin City Manager Jeff Coffee in directing the activities of this ECT Implementation Committee related to the integration of transportation and land use planning. The next meeting of the Transportation and Land Use Committee is Monday, March 24. If you have an interest in joining this committee or attending the next meeting, please contact Diane Miller at dmiller@ envisioncentraltexas.org. 

ECT Board Member Peter French, manager of operations at Plum Creek Development in Kyle, was named a co-chair of the Envision Central Texas Community Design Committee. This committee has oversight of the ECT Quality Growth Toolbox and other community design initiatives and is currently recruiting new members. A second co-chair will be named within a few weeks. If you have an interest in joining this committee, please contact Diane Miller at dmiller@envisioncentraltexas.org.

Cooper and French were also elected to serve on the ECT Executive Committee.