The way a city looks, feels and grows is often a combination of planning, hard work and, in many cases, blind luck. How different would Round Rock look today if I-35 had been built farther east or if Dell Inc. had gone elsewhere? What would Pflugerville's or Hutto's future be without Toll 130?

Two of our front-page stories explore what it means to shape a community and how the choices made today can affect the next 10, 20 or even 50 years.

In Hutto, city officials are attempting to bring business downtown through a series of incentives meant to nurture small businesses and restaurants. If it all works out, Hutto could have an Austin-style food trailer park and a revitalized downtown. If it doesn't? That makes for a murkier crystal ball to peer into.

In Round Rock, years of work preparing for growth along University Boulevard are starting to bear fruit, but even development in that corridor is still years—and in some places even decades—away. The interests of various parties are all working in their own ways to make that part of the city into what they envision, and hope, it can be.

But not all visions are as all-encompassing as those large plans. The Round Rock Auto Group is expanding its vision of what it means to be a large dealership campus in Central Texas as Pflugerville examines its vision for health, business and quality of life in regards to a smoking ban and issues aligned with water utilities.

As we approach election season, the shape of our communities will be pushed to the forefront of our minds and newspapers. Make sure you're up to speed on what your community is doing and planning.

Blake Rasmussen, Market Editor, [email protected]