Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell outlined five critical areas of improvement for the city and announced plans to create a task force on aging at his March 30 State of the City address.

The mayor called Austin "the greatest city in America today," but said in order to maintain that lead, the city needs to address jobs, traffic, energy policy, schools and accountability of city leaders.

"A global recession doesn't spare many people, or many places," Leffingwell said. "And while Austin has fared much, much better than most places, the fact is there are still a lot of people struggling to make ends meet. I don't want to sugarcoat that."

In 2011, Austin ranked No. 2 in the nation in terms of job growth and its unemployment rate—6 percent—is among the lowest of any major city in the country, Leffingwell said, adding that there needs to be a continued effort to attract jobs in high-growth industries such as creative media, life sciences and clean energy.

Leffingwell also said that if federal funds can be secured, he would like to implement improvements to the city's congestion problems. The longstanding issue of congestion, he said, can be blamed on years of failing to invest in infrastructure.

The need for innovation in ways to address the shortfall in state funding for schools was also addressed, and he emphasized a need for more affordable housing and energy rates.

"Affordability is not a 'nice to have,'" he said. "It is a 'need to have.'"

The mayor also announced plans to create a Task Force on Aging and a personal commitment to raise $50,000 to help fund the task force.

"We're changing from a population known as a young population and becoming an older, much more mature city," he stated.

The mayor said studies have shown that the Austin-Round Rock area is the third-fastest growing population in country for those 65 and older. He said the task force will study how to improve health and transportation needs, which are especially problematic when on a fixed income.

Leffingwell said he will be asking for others to help in the fundraising efforts, but as of yet, there are no further specifics outlined or an estimated timetable.

Special guests were also introduced—including James Moody, community activist and owner of Mohawk nightclub, along with local singers Troy Campbell and Gina Chavez—as he called creativity and compassion "the basic building blocks of Austin's DNA."

Throughout the speech, the mayor was optimistic about Austin's future.

"The state of the city is not just strong, but the state of city is stronger than it ever has been before, and it's getting stronger," Leffingwell stated. "In Austin, the possibilities always outnumber the problems."