The Palo Alto Comprehensive Plan had been underway for four years when the City retained Barry to serve as Plan editor. By that time, the City had convened more than 20 meetings of a 47-member Steering Committee and numerous community workshops that attracted over 600 participants. The planning effort had generated a substantial body of technical data, maps, and hundreds of draft policies and programs.

The City sought an experienced planner who could synthesize this extensive material into a cohesive, internally consistent, and usable Comprehensive Plan. Barry’s role included reviewing notes from workshops and committee meetings, consolidating and refining policies with common themes, and integrating draft text prepared by multiple contributors into a unified document. He also collaborated closely with a graphic designer to clearly communicate the Plan’s vision and narrative, ensuring that the final document effectively “told the story” of Palo Alto’s future and functioned as an accessible, user-friendly guide for decision-makers and the public.