To be effective, a plan needs to present a compelling case that the strategies and actions it recommends are necessary and desirable. It must also convince citizens and elected officials that the strategies and actions it recommends have a good chance of achieving the desired results. Effective plans are realistic plans. It makes little sense for a plan to call for actions for which there is no political support, and/or that the community can not afford. Likewise, there is considerable down-side risk in recommending actions that have a low probability of achieving a successful outcome.