The Blueprint Houston Citizen Congress held May 31 at the George R. Brown Convention Center was the culmination of the effort to determine a Citizens' Agenda for Houston's Future. The event was highly interactive, using 1,000 electronic keypads for instant demographics, polling, and decisions. Attendees answered questions about planning and strategy development derived from all the previous public events, and then prioritized goals and strategies.

Citizens' Agenda summary (draft) (pdf 200k)

Action statements approved:
We, the Congress:

1. recommend that the Mayor and City Council adopt the Citizens’ Agenda for Houston’s Future to guide public policy, budgeting and implementation actions.
2. recommend that the Mayor and City Council utilize the Citizens’ Agenda for Houston’s Future to initiate a process to develop a coordinated plan for the city’s future.
3. agree to participate with Blueprint Houston to bring the Citizens’ Agenda for Houston’s Future to the forefront of the public dialogue.
4. recommend that Blueprint Houston be reorganized as a citizens’ coalition to facilitate the implementation of the Citizens’ Agenda for Houston’s Future and to monitor its progress

Top Ten Most Urgent Goals:
(Note: all 29 goals were approved and work will be done toward implementation, but these ten were seen by the participants as those needing the most urgent attention)

1. Public Transportation: Houston develops a public transit system that reduces traffic congestion, improves air quality and provides increased density and mobility options throughout the region; and that is clean, fast, efficient, high frequency, comfortable, accessible, and well routed.

2. Air Quality: Houston improves the quality of its air and in turn improves the quality of life and health of its citizens.

3. Government and Leadership: Houston restructures and reforms City government to make it more accountable, to give citizens an active voice in policy decision making, to reduce taxes, and to better collaborate and coordinate activities with other governmental entities.

4. Infrastructure Provision and Maintenance: Houston maintains and improves its infrastructure – including streets, roads, sidewalks, traffic management devices and public facilities – in an efficient and fiscally responsible manner.

5. Economic Development: Houston becomes a sophisticated, vibrant, information technology-driven city with a highly skilled workforce, a diversified business community attractive to international interests and small businesses thriving in local neighborhoods.

6. Roads and Congestion: Houston supports a coordinated and accessible network of streets, roads and expressways that are well built, well maintained and integrated with other modes of transportation; that reduce congestion through traffic management, road construction, and parking; and that are aesthetically pleasing.

7. Healthcare: Houston encourages healthy living and affordable quality care for all economic and age groups with adequate trauma centers and clinics.

8. Flood Management: Houston develops and adopts a flood management plan that encourages cooperation among City, County and developers in all aspects of flood management.

9. Steward of water resources: Houston becomes a steward of water resources, develops new and safe water supplies, and cleans up waterways to eliminate water pollution.

10. A clean city: Houston becomes a clean and unpolluted city that supports technologically advanced clean alternative fuels and energy efficient green buildings in sustainable developments.

Additional Goals (alphabetically):

Alternative Transportation: Houston improves and expands existing pedestrian trails and bike paths providing alternative transportation options and ensuring safety and connectivity.

An equitable city: Houston provides affordable quality day care to children; encourages drug counseling and other drug prevention intervention in schools; facilitates the transition process for intermediate and junior high students in poverty; assists the homeless; and provides opportunities for residents to earn a living wage.

Appreciating diversity: Houston promotes, embraces and increases appreciation of diversity especially race, ethnicity, language, gender, sexual preference, religion and socio-economic status.

Civic Involvement: Houston becomes an informed and empowered citizenry able to access information from all relevant sources and to collectively influence government decisions.

Community Appearance: Houston’s neighborhoods become beautiful, well preserved, and free of visual blight suppor ted by appropr iate development standards that respect their unique identity and values.

Culture: Houston supports a vital and diverse arts community with affordable and accessible arts centers and programs.

Delivery of Services: Houston delivers public services equally to all areas of the City including recycling, street cleanup, lighting, curbs and gutters, and mosquito control.

Education: Houston provides high quality bilingual public education in schools that are safe and have highly trained teachers and small classes.

Employment and Training: Houston provides increased employment training opportunities that address a wide range of occupations and industries, offered in a culturally sensitive and language-sensitive manner, inside and outside the work place including in the public schools.

Growth Management: Houston creates a master plan for city growth that fosters dense, vibrant urban cores surrounded by affordable, accessible, diverse, mixed-use neighborhoods.

Housing: Houston redevelops its subdivisions into beautiful neighborhoods with housing for all economic and age groups located in the proximity of parks, schools, shops, police services and places of work.

Immigration: Houston provides opportunities for immigrants to learn how our government works so they can access jobs, education opportunities and the justice system on par with non-immigrants.

Law Enforcement: Houston develops secure public and private places and adequate laws for public protection that address both non-violent and violent offenses, and shows the willingness to enforce those laws extensively and fairly.

Neighborhoods and Regulations: Houston protects and strengthens its neighborhoods through sensible application of newly created zoning laws.

Preservation, Parks, and Trails: Houston adds, preserves and restores natural areas; creates more parks evenly distributed geographically and accessible to all citizens; develops linear parks along bayous; and connects neighborhoods with hike and bike trails.

Recreational and Community Facilities: Houston offers libraries, parks and recreational facilities available within walking distance for every Houstonian.

Revitalizing Neighborhoods: Houston promotes and preserves inner city and older neighborhoods, improves their infrastructure with increased public open space and encourages historic preservation resulting in diverse livable, walkable neighborhoods.

Senior Citizens: Houston supports seniors with affordable housing, tax exemptions, access to healthcare, transportation, more park facilities and activities, environmental awareness about senior housing areas and police presence in senior communities.

Urban Cores: Houston promotes the revitalization of vibrant, walkable urban cores as entertainment, workplace, and residential destinations, preserving histor ic older areas and neighborhoods and promoting sensitive new development.