Case Study: City of Huntsville achieves a citizen-driven master plan with IdeaScale

Developing a Master Plan with Citizens

The City of Huntsville, Alabama—a fast‑growing, nationally recognized community—launched The BIG Picture, an 18‑month master urban planning initiative to shape long‑term growth. Their challenge was to engage a broad cross‑section of residents, collect demographic data and input on topics like neighborhoods, parks, transportation and business revitalization, and turn that feedback into actionable planning decisions across both online and offline channels.

Huntsville deployed IdeaScale’s Imagine Huntsville digital community alongside a multichannel outreach campaign (website, social, press, e‑newsletters, business cards, citizen academies and mayoral promotion) and active moderation to drive participation. The effort produced respectful, high‑quality dialogue, validated and fast‑tracked projects (e.g., fiber networks, bike paths), surfaced new ideas, improved internal planning and communications, and delivered strong value—leading the city to continue using citizen engagement for future projects.

City of Huntsville

Kelly Schrimsher

Director of Communications for the Office of the Mayor