Best Effort At Planning Peace

Citizen's Planning Committee

Ordinary citizens can change the world, particularly if they're the visionary kind. By gathering together 22 volunteers from Austin's mainstream to form the Citizens Planning Committee, chair Ben Heimsath, also a local architect, helped change Austin's vision of itself. The CPC engineered a model for neighborhood and developer involvement in the city's growth process, the end result of which has already led to greater understanding between fighting factions and smoother city operations. It's a pretty simple idea: Everyone gets to play. A revamped land development code and regional cooperation is next on their list.