The Imagine Cary Community Plan (Imagine Cary) is Cary’s comprehensive plan. It is the result of several years of work, unprecedented community input, and dozens of meetings and workshops. It sets out a long-term vision, policies, and strategic actions with a time horizon of 2040. 

Adopted in 2017, Imagine Cary is a living document and was recently updated in 2024. The update builds upon the strong foundation established in 2017 while incorporating new insights and addressing contemporary challenges. Specific changes included in the 2024 update are a new preface for the plan, incorporation of the 2021 Cary Housing Plan into the LIVE chapter, expanding efforts related to the environment into a new chapter called ENRICH, and an update to the Serve chapter focused on our evolving community services. More information about the update process is available by visiting the Imagine Cary Community Plan 2024 Update.

The plan is divided into eleven chapters. Each chapter presents background information on challenges and opportunities facing Cary, followed by policy and intent statements to address them. Chapters end with a set of strategic initiatives and actions to carry out the policy direction. Chapter 10, ACT, combines all implementation steps in one place to guide upcoming activities. The plan articulates an overarching strategy for addressing these important components of the community and builds upon past planning success.

Review individual chapters, appendices, and maps by clicking on the applicable links to the right, or view the Plan in our on-screen flip book below: 

View the Plan as an On-screen Flip Book

Note: Those using screen readers or other text-based reading programs can access the text-only version or download the full PDF by selecting the associated icons in the menu at the top of the flipbook.

Part 1: Chapters 1-5   
Part 2: Chapters 6-10