Evolve Austin Partners' recent letter to City Council highlights the importance of using objective metrics--in particular the complete communities indicators listed in the Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan--in the review of the upcoming CodeNEXT draft.
The case for objective, data-based metrics by which to measure the impact of the proposed code revisions is laid out:
It is important that those conflicts be adjudicated and resolved using the best available data--not personal opinions, which are often driven by individual or special interests that do not take into account the welfare and vision of the city as a whole.
Imagine Austin's vision is for a city of complete communities that are livable, natural and sustainable, mobile and interconnected, creative, educated, prosperous, and that value and respect people. These qualities of complete communities represent the goals of the Plan. They are measurable, not mere abstractions.
The letter is available in full here.