A case study of the city of Austin's Colony Park sustainable community initiative

This study explores the City of Austin Colony Park Sustainable Community Initiative, a three-year planning project funded through a U.S. Housing and Urban Development Office of Sustainable Communities and Housing Community Challenge Planning Grant. The final outcome of the Colony Park Sustainable Community Initiative will include a master plan for 208 acres of publicly owned land in east Austin, located off of Loyola Lane between the Colony Park and Lakeside neighborhoods. The Colony Park Sustainable Community Initiative considers a study area of five census tracts that surround the 208 acre site. The City of Austin's Neighborhood Housing and Community Development is the lead department on The Colony Park Sustainable Community Initiative, however, all City of Austin departments are stakeholders as well as all residents of the five census tracts that make of the project study area. The study includes a historical context for the relationship between community leaders of the Colony Park-Lakeside area and City of Austin officials and department employees. I explore the complex activities and events that have taken place over the course of the first year and a half of the grant term, and the significance of these events for the future of the project and surrounding community moving forward.