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Cary continues to be consistently ranked among the most desirable places to live, work, have fun, and do business in the United States. It holds a reputation for its safe neighborhoods, network of bike-friendly parks and greenways, environmental stewardship, robust business climate, and premier sports and entertainment venues. As a government, Cary aims to anticipate challenges rather than react to them while understanding and learning from its past. Cary's philosophy encourages and values collaboration, experimentation, learning, and adaptation while seizing opportunities to continue making Cary a place of inspiration and possibility. As a guidebook to Cary's future, our Imagine Cary Community Plan, adopted Jan. 24, 2017, was the most ambitious long-range planning effort in our community's history. The process to "Imagine Cary," was built on the values, needs, and aspirations of our citizens, and the creation of Imagine Cary took several years of work, unprecedented community input, and dozens of meetings and workshops. Throughout the process, citizens recognized that Cary was transitioning from a growing community to a maturing one — one where infill and redevelopment were becoming the norm. As such, it was time to take a fresh look at long-term planning documents. Imagine Cary sets the long-term vision for Cary through 2040 and a course for achieving our desired future. This comprehensive document serves as a roadmap, guiding not only the future development of Cary but also how we will live, work, shop, dine, and have fun. Since its adoption, the Imagine Cary Community Plan has become our reference in all that we do, from providing high-quality public services, capital planning, financial management, protecting nature and the environment, and managing future land use. The Act chapter provides a summary table of the policy initiatives and a list of 95 actions found in each chapter. Since adoption, 61, or 64%, of those actions are active or complete, with 34, or 36%, not yet started. Implementation of the plan is documented through the Council's annual and quarterly reports. Imagine Cary originally prescribed timeframes for minor and major updates. However, the current process highlights the importance of being nimble in our ability to update the plan. Some chapters will require updates based on new information or subplans, while other sections will remain very relevant throughout the entire planning horizon. It is anticipated that future updates for the Imagine Cary Community Plan will continue to occur in a similar as-needed manner, rather than the prescriptive approach originally envisioned. This update focuses specifically on a new Preface and the LIVE, ENRICH, AND SERVE chapters. Other chapters will be amended as new plans and initiatives come forward and as wholistic reviews and updates of the chapters are needed. This updated version of Imagine Cary builds upon the strong foundation established in 2017 while incorporating new insights and addressing contemporary challenges.

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