Lovable Livability

Austin Voices for Education and Youth member Ariel Kay, with community coordinator Tim Eubanks (Photo by Roxanne Jo Mitchell)

The Liveable City 2008 Liveable Vision Awards event, held May 21, attracted a vivacious who's who crowd of Austin's civic-minded progressives and friends. Lovely emcee Sarah Eckhardt (our Travis Co. commissioner, wearing a red-glitter Vanna White dress) and ever-so-smart Liveable City board Chair Mark Yznaga presented trophies, made by local artists at Fisterra Studio, to the five honorees.

Themed as the five Es required for a sustainable, livable city, the Vision Awards recognize: engagement, equity, economy, environment, and esthetics. In that order, the winners were: the CreateAustin cultural plan, Austin Voices for Education and Youth initiative, HelioVolt solar manufacturing, Texas Campaign for the Environment and Dell's computer-recycling program, and Butler Park (formerly Town Lake Park).

Travis Co. Commissioner Sarah Eckhardt emcees (Photo by Roxanne Jo Mitchell)

Liveable City, a membership organization open to all, promotes broad community collaboration on urban quality-of-life issues. It provides a voice on complex, interconnected issues that are confronting our rapidly growing city. Policy reports developed by Liveable City for 2008 include: "AISD Middle Level Educa­tion Initiative: Policy and Process Recommend­a­tions," "Building a Sustainable Economy: Liveable City Examines Financial Incentives," "2008 Quality of Life Visual Card Survey," and "Rebuilding Public Engagement in Austin." Want to get engaged? Other new initiatives are a Transportation Committee and Comprehensive Planning Committee. For more info, visit www.liveablecity.org.