Shaping Orange County's Future

The SOCF Provisional Report and Recommendations and a Companion Summary are now available.   Click here to learn more about the report and to view a copy.

Shaping Orange County's Future is a citizen-based initiative designed to build community and develop a county-wide vision for our common future that will serve as a policy base to coordinate future long-range decisions and plans made by our local municipal and county governments. 

Initiated by the governing bodies of Orange County, the towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill, and in cooperation with the Town of Hillsborough, a 30-member Shaping Orange County’s Future Task Force was created in the Fall of 1996. This Task Force is charged with creating a vision that represents the whole County’s hopes for the future. Such a community-based vision is dependent upon broad citizen participation, and all citizens are encouraged to participate in the project.

Six topical committees made up of Task Force members and other interested citizens met between October 1997 and March/April 1998. The six committees researched information and created reports defining key issues and preliminary goals for: Economy; Education and Cultural Arts; Environment and Resource Protection; Human Services, Health & Safety; Land Use & Growth; and Transportation, Infrastructure & Services.  The issue and goal reports submitted by each committee in April 1998 are serving as a basis for a coordinated community building and vision plan for our future that balances urban and rural interests.  An Executive Summary of these reports is also available. 

Additionally in 1998 two  umbrella committees were formed  to address Sustainability and Community Building. These committees were termed "umbrella committees" because they addressed over-arching issues that relate to and include the issues identified by the topical committees. Sustainability and Community Building provide perspectives from which to understand the inter-relationships of the key issues identified by the topical committees.  

Upon receiving these eight reports (the six topical reports and the two umbrella reports) the Task Force concluded that there was a need to synthesize all of these perspectives and information into one coherent framework.  The Synthesis Report creates a cohesive framework based on eight focus areas: Economic Vitality and Quality; Management of Growth and Development; Environment and Natural Resources; Transportation; Responsive Governance and Quality Public Services; Community Life and Participation; Educational Needs and Services; and Basic Human Needs, Services and Issues.  

The eight focus areas provided a framework under which the Task Force has adopted a working set of goals and objectives.  Additionally the Task Force has adopted a Values Statement to guide them in creating a set of recommendations. 

As an off-shoot of the Synthesis Work Group a committee was formed to address ways to deal with issues surrounded by conflict.  The Conflict and Opportunities Committee Report outlines a method for resolving these difficult issues by involving all stakeholders. 

Project staff created a profile of current trends in the County for more than twenty areas of concern.  Additionally, a "baseline" scenario covering Environment/Land Use, Economy, and Community has been created, detailing what Orange County may look like in the year 2030 if current trends continue.  The Task Force evaluated this information base to see how it meets and does not meet their adopted goals.  The Task Force  then broke into three small groups to create their own alternative scenarios of what a desirable future would be according to their goals and values.  They then combined aspects of these three alternative scenarios into a single preferred scenario of the future, the SOCF Vision for the Year 2030.  

For the past eight months the Task Force has been working to turn this Vision into concrete policy recommendations.  The Task Force adopted a Provisional Report and Recommendations on April 5, 2000.  The Task Force will begin collecting  public input on the Provisional Report at a community-wide forum to be held on May 18 (details on the forum will be coming soon) .  Feedback will continue to be sought from the elected officials and citizens  through community meetings and public hearings.  If you belong to a civic group that would like to have a presentation from SOCF on the report please let us know (see contact information below).   We invite you to get involved and let us know what you think.  Our calendar of events lists regular events and any planned special events.  We would be happy to receive your feedback on any of the Task Forces reports or other information on the website. 

                                Shaping Orange County's Future Project Contacts:

                                                     Shaping Orange County’s Future
                                                                  P.O. Box 8181
                                                          Hillsborough, NC 27278
                                                             Fax: (919) 644-3002

This page is maintained by Pam McIntosh, Project Planner.  Please submit comments or suggestions to pmcintos@co.orange.nc.us.

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