Imagine Austin rewrite: last open houses this week preview a new map of where the city should grow

Austin is rewriting Imagine Austin, the long-range plan meant to guide where housing, jobs and transit go over the next 20 years. This week residents get their last two chances this fall to see an early draft of its vision statement and a new future land use map in person or online.

Community Impact reported the schedule of five open houses Oct. 19. Three have happened. The remaining two:

• Wednesday, Oct. 28, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., Doss Elementary School, 7005 Northledge Drive.
• Thursday, Oct. 29, 6 to 7:30 p.m., a virtual session on Zoom (registration).

All sessions cover the same material, according to the outlet. A survey on priorities is open on the city's SpeakUp Austin page.

Why it matters

The council first adopted Imagine Austin in 2012. A 10-year review found mixed results, with gains in environmental health, construction and small business, and losses on affordability, health, transit and cultural investment, Community Impact reported. The new plan's land use map would set the broad framework that later rezonings are measured against. Speakers at council zoning hearings already cite the current plan's designations, as one did at the Oct. 8 meeting.

What our records add

How the update started. The council voted to start the rewrite on Aug. 28, 2025, on consent, 10-0, with Council Member Zohaib "Zo" Qadri absent. It had been postponed from July. The resolution notes $3 million approved for the work in the Planning Department's capital budget.

What staff have said about timing. At the council's Mobility Committee on Oct. 1, Austin Planning principal planner Warner Cook said the update focuses on how the city should grow around transit, folding station areas into a new "place types" map. He announced these open houses and said staff are considering council adoption in early 2028, with a community working group and technical advisory group under way. Community Impact also reported a spring 2028 completion.

Why other plans are waiting on it. At the Oct. 13 Housing and Planning Committee, the discussion of the city's housing strategy noted that the Imagine Austin update will shape where housing can be built, and that the housing plan will come at the tail end of it. The council votes Nov. 5 on starting that housing plan rewrite; our story has details.

Code changes in the pipeline. Separately, planning staff told that committee the city expects a run of land development code amendments in 2027, including the East Riverside corridor plan, downtown density bonus changes and data center rules. Several will go through joint Planning Commission and council hearings.

What's next

After this round, engagement continues into 2027. A draft plan would go to the Planning Commission and then the council, with adoption now expected in early 2028.