"It’s going to be okay one way or another." That’s the message Sally Richardson hopes to send to every person who walks past her yard and spots the prominent Crepe Myrtle tree adorned in hundreds of cheerful, multicolored ribbons.

When Brian La Cour moved into his North Austin home in 2001, he found a bullet casing lying in the driveway. He had no idea the shell would come to symbolize a personal mission to improve neighborhood safety, resulting in the country’s first Community Based Gunshot Alert System.

It’s rush hour on a 96 degree summer day and 77-year-old Gary Westerman is setting up his lawn chair at one of the busiest intersections in North Austin. In one hand he holds a stopwatch, and in the other a homemade sign that reads: HONK HORN IF THESE LIGHTS NEED “TIMING ADJUSTMENT”.