This was an unprecedented opportunity for all of us in our community.

The private sector, public sector, not-for-profit agencies, and citizens.

Envision Athens was about breaking down barriers and learning from one another.

It was about coming together to think about our future and working toward a common vision.

Planning of this scale represents good stewardship. Communities—like businesses—cannot reach their potential without a deliberate and thoughtful blueprint. Our community has many significant assets and the potential to evolve dynamically in the future. This potential has a much better chance to be realized with an intentional and thoughtful planning process. One of the special aspects of this planning process is that it informed and influenced the Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County’s state required, 2018 Comprehensive Plan update. The Envision Athens process has established a larger community-based vision which not only helped to inform the development of the local government’s Comprehensive Plan, but also created an environment where organizations sat down across the table from one another and found common ground on which to begin working on the issues that matter most to our community.