Next Week with the RCD Committee

On Friday May 18th, Envision Central Texas (ECT) held its annual Community Stewardship Awards where the following projects received recognition for their impact on the Central Texas Region:

New Development: MacMora Cottages

Redevelopment: Rehabilitation of Historic Buildings in Downtown San Marcos

Pioneer: Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas

Public Planning and Policy: 2006 City of Austin Bond Program

Raising Public Awareness: Discovering the Colorado - A Vision for the Austin-Bastrop River Corridor

Next Wednesday (May 30th), the RCD Committee will be hosting Diane Miller, Assistant Director for Envision Central Texas, who will get us up to speed on some of the latest activities and developments of ECT and how we as a community can continue to stay involved. Join us at our monthly meeting at 11:45 at the AIA offices. Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

The Tools Provided by Planning

As mentioned in Richard Florida's "Rise of the Creative Class", consumers have clearly and consistently shown an awareness and preference for the organic nature and originality of a place. With a trend for synergy between "lifestyle centers" and revitalized plans for urban growth and redevelopment, opportunities to allow redevelopment to occur in ways which reinforce the real character of a place should be cultivated and understanding market preferences is key.

Governing.com recently picked up on D.C.'s planning efforts that illustrated this dynamic.

http://governing.typepad.com/13thfloor/2007/05/yuppies_want_ca.html