Richmond's future -- your future -- is in play.

Defining this opportunity and helping to realize it is the driving purpose of this column. And let's be clear about one thing from the get-go. This is our future to shape. Shame on us if we haven't made serious progress in two or three years to implement -- not study or discuss or debate -- significant improvements in the prospects for our city and the people who live, work and play here.

To communicate effectively about anything, people need to speak the same language. They do not need to agree. Spirited and respectful disagreements are a great way to determine the best solution to a problem. But you can't have a good discussion, or argument, unless the parties understand common terms and concepts.

Fortunately, Richmond has just about studied itself to death in recent years. So, we have a cornucopia of well-informed studies, audits and recommendations about our future. If you want to be an effective communicator about Richmond, you must read these materials. No short cuts. Look at the links in the info box below. Read!

What you'll find in the studies are some great ideas and, often, a clarity of vision and purpose. What you'll see out in the Richmond community is a civic wagon train that has been traveling in circles for years, making ruts that have become so deep that some wagons may never be able to take a different path.

For reasons both profound and simple, the common wisdom says that Richmond has become stuck. I'm not sure I buy that but what I do see is an inventory of urban needs that has been exhaustively studied and debated. Reasonable and informed people might disagree about the priorities of attacking these problems but they would quickly agree on the problems that need attention.

So, by and large, we all know what's on the short list, and we know a lot about how to do it. What we haven't had is a list of leaders able to take the wagon train in new directions.

In four short months, Richmond will have a new mayor and a newly elected City Council and School Board. Maybe they'll even communicate! What a novel concept!

The council and board will be looking for new leaders, as City Council President Bill Pantele is running for mayor and School Board Chair George Braxton is leaving the board entirely. We are looking for a new Superintendent of Education and a new Police Chief as well, and there will be other senior leadership positions to fill, particularly in the schools.

There are major changes outside these public institutions. Later this summer, the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce will welcome a new president and CEO -- Kim Scheeler, who has filled a similar position in Tampa -- to succeed the retiring Jim Dunn. Ed Ayers, recently installed as president of the University of Richmond, will push hard for greater university support for the city and, particularly, its disadvantaged citizens. There will be a changing of the guard in two years at Virginia Commonwealth University. President Gene Trani literally is irreplaceable but his successor can build upon Trani's developmental legacy in ways that make Richmond stronger.

Last August, Richmond's own "Gang of 26" (a tip of the putdown fedora for that label to Style Weekly) -- a group of self-appointed leaders of major Richmond employers -- went public with its concerns about city schools and included a recommendation that the elected School Board be replaced with an appointed Board. Its concerns were well-founded. Its bolt-from-the-blue recommendation, however, was poorly received as an elitist attempt to replace the public control of an elected Board with the back-room influence of an appointed body. So, after writing a second letter and including a 17-page defense of its first letter, the Gang went underground. But it is not going away.

The Chamber and many of these same leading employers also hired consultant Jim Crupi last year to take a detailed look at the area and produce a report about what had changed in Richmond since Crupi's earlier study of the city, done in 1993. The new Crupi report is a savvy and nuanced look at the city's needs and those wagon ruts.

The Chamber is working to develop a regional response to Crupi's recommendations, and has helped craft what it's calling the Capital Region Collaborative, which will be operated in partnership with the Richmond Regional Planning District Commission. Without the involvement and, dare we hope, support of surrounding counties, Richmond's path to a better future becomes immeasurably harder.

Lastly, the city elicited a strong and passionate public response when it began updating its Downtown Master Plan, under the direction of Community Development Director Rachel Flynn. People were drawn to a public charrette process and brought energy and lots and lots of ideas. The plan is still working its way through the city's administrative review and approval process but it's clear that many people in the city care deeply about the way our neighborhoods and other resources are to be developed, particularly the James River.

So, we have guidance galore here and much to think about.

Next time: How shall we spell S-U-C-C-E-S-S?

About the author -- Phil Moeller moved to Richmond in 2005 and quickly developed a crush on the city and region. "It's just a gorgeous town, and I love its history and respect for the past. I've lived and worked in Baltimore, Charlotte, Hartford and Louisville, and while these places have a lot in common with us, I believe that Richmond has a unique opportunity to use economic growth to strengthen, not replace, its historical foundations. I think Richmond is poised to do just that, and I will be using my editorial peashooter to help us along this exciting path."

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