As the City’s long-range plan, the comprehensive plan establishes and sets the general direction for policymaking and investment for the next decade or more. It includes a conceptual roadmap for land use and development and provides the foundation for zoning and other land development regulations. The community’s vision, which is rooted in the community’s values, articulates the city’s future in 10, 15, 20 or more years from now and outlines a plan to achieve it.

The Downtown Strategic Plan is focused on a very specific area and for a shorter period. Forward High Point is undertaking a strategic planning process for the downtown area, to lead the community’s efforts over the next 5-years and beyond. The Downtown Strategic Plan will examine current economic development plans, community desires, physical and social assets, and existing organizational structures to make recommendations for Forward High Point and the City of High Point to best meet the community’s vision for an inclusive, livable, healthy, family-friendly, economically vibrant, and exciting downtown. When complete, it will be used as a tool to help make policy decisions and promote downtown investment.

The goal of the City’s branding project is to develop a community-wide brand that supports and elevates all city organizations, entities, businesses and residents. The community branding project reaches far beyond just a logo design project. While there is a visual design component, it also includes brand messaging, economic development strategies, how you experience the brand in the built environment, and more.

This is the City’s mission statement as an organization.

The process of creating the 2045 Comprehensive Plan started in January 2023 and will take approximately 15 months to complete.

There will be several opportunities for people to get involved during the planning process. The process includes four rounds of community meetings, stakeholder interviews, discussions with the steering committee, and online feedback, including surveys, that will be available through the project’s website: highpoint2045.org.

City Staff, City Council, and the Planning and Zoning Commission use the plan to guide decision making, especially for land use decisions, such as Land Use Plan amendments, zoning map amendments and special use permit requests, and Development Ordinance text amendments. In addition, the city uses it when updating its Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and to move forward other community priorities as outlined in the plan.

A comprehensive plan will typically include a map of anticipated land uses to help serve as a guide for future growth and development. However, when adopted it does not impact the types of uses allowed on a property or change the zoning. It also does not influence tax rates.