We are pleased to see city of Austin officials and community leaders make an effort to include as much public input as possible for the city’s Downtown Master Plan.

Community leaders, city officials and volunteers vowed to get as much community input from Austin residents as possible during a city meeting Monday night. That’s good news for Austin residents.

The Downtown Master Plan acts as a roadmap for city development in the downtown area and is only updated when major changes, such as the Spam Museum relocation or Vision 2020 projects, come into play. The city last updated the map in 2005 once the Main Street Project came to fruition.

We’re glad to see community leaders are organizing a public forum on July 14 to get resident input on what they’d like to see downtown, whether it’s more housing, a better nightlife, or more business growth. Residents can also fill out a short, two-question form to figure out how big the downtown area should be and what they’d like to see there.

We’re glad to see community leaders are paying attention to the people. In recent memory, community leaders and volunteers have been criticized for not seeking enough public input on certain projects such as a potential new city logo. We support the decision to open the downtown master plan process to as many people as possible, even if it extends the city’s deadline for the master plan. We support the city of Austin’s downtown master plan efforts and will look forward to the results.