We suspect that every generation views its times and challenges as tougher and more challenging than any preceding time. Sometimes the issue is money, others it’s that elusive sense of leadership, or even “the vision thing.” Nonetheless, it’s less about what times used to be like that matters, and more about what we’ll do with the hand we’ve been dealt. Fundamentally, it’s about the future. As we reviewed the materials now in your hands, we identified a number of issues, five to be precise, that will distinguish or diminish the prospects for this region in the future. Certainly, other readers would likely focus on different issues. This is our cut, and we encourage you to seek your own story for the future out of the presentations in this edition of the Metropolitan Briefing Book. The challenge for our time, as for any time, is to present our take on the present and the future in plain view. The more stories, the better. The more stories, the more robust the conversation, and the better chance that we can move forward with purpose and conviction as a metropolitan community. In that spirit, we present the following five key questions for the future of our region.