Carrboro Connects Comprehensive Plan
Building Carrboro's first comprehensive plan through equity-focused, community-wide engagement.
APA North Carolina Marvin Collins Award, Outstanding Planning Award
Carrboro, North Carolina, is home to a wide mix of residents, including long-time BIPOC families, immigrants, tech workers, and graduate students and faculty from the neighboring University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For its first comprehensive plan, the Town partnered with Teska to create Carrboro Connects, a plan grounded in equity and shaped by the people who call Carrboro home.
The planning team designed an engagement process built to reach every part of the community. Conversations with more than 60 community leaders, nine meetings of a 30-person Task Force, and two bilingual workshops that each drew more than 100 residents, businesses, and stakeholders set the plan's direction. Teska also helped the Town host its first Spanish-language Facebook Live event, which brought Latino community leaders and elected officials together for an open conversation. Delivered mostly virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic, the process kept participation broad and inclusive and gave Carrboro a shared foundation for decisions about its future.
-
Town's first comprehensive plan
60+ community leader interviews
Nine 30-person Task Force meetings
Two bilingual workshops, 100+ participants each
First Spanish-language Facebook Live event
Latino leaders and elected officials in conversation
“As we launched Carrboro Connects during crises of global health, climate and racism, we felt a heightened sense of concern and urgency to plan toward a better future. Community members, businesses, and Town leaders were connected in common inspiration and shared motivation. We believe the planning process has helped people feel more hopeful and less powerless during a grim time. Outstanding partners with Teska, CNT, and Teresa Lockamy helped guide us to meet the demands of the day while creating a community plan encompassing visions and actions for a brighter future.”
- Trish McGuire, Former Town of Carrboro Planning Director
SERVICES
Engagement
Comprehensive Planning
CLIENT
City of Carrboro, NC
PARTNERS
Center for Neighborhood Technology
Lockamy Consulting