AUGUST 20, 1999

Why Do We Need a Vision for the Valley of the Sun?

In the Phoenix metropolitan region, rapid growth has long been a reality. In the first part of the decade from 1990 to 1997 Maricopa County was the fastest-growing large county in the United States. Our region's economy is booming; with job growth, small business development, housing permits, and occupancy rates at some of the highest levels in decades. The unemployment rate in the region is one of the lowest in the nation. Yet this rosy economic picture does not tell the whole story.

Increasingly, residents are questioning the expansive growth in the region and its impact on their quality of life and community well being. Economic and geographic disparities, workforce skills, the education system and transportation issues are growing concerns in the Valley of the Sun.

Approximately 25% of Valley residents are in need of affordable housing. Nationally, Arizona has the highest percentage of teens that drop out of high school and employers are concerned that there are not enough skilled employees to keep their businesses moving forward in a knowledge-based economy. Despite our strong economic performance, there are compelling needs that must be addressed if the Valley of the Sun is to remain a prosperous, livable community.

The projections for the region's future growth make it apparent that more extensive regional cooperation and planning will be needed. Based on current trends, the region is projected to grow from 2.9 million residents today to 4.9 million in 2025, almost doubling in a generation. Employment and housing will continue to grow, mainly on the region's perimeter, leading to a projected increase in traffic congestion in the region. The percent of freeway miles that are congested during the afternoon peak is projected to increase from 18% to 34% by 2025. This congestion will try people's patience and constrain business productivity. No single entity can effectively address these challenges. Local jurisdictions, regional organizations, businesses, educators and community members will need to work together to govern our growth in a way that benefits our region's people and their quality of life.

Clearly, if a fast-growing region like Maricopa County is to remain a desirable place to live, work and raise a family, our first step must be to develop a broad vision that describes how the region plans to grow - both physically and socially. What kind of place do we want to become? What values, skills and dreams do we want our children to embrace? What kind of opportunities do we want to be available to the region's residents? And once we know what kind of community we want to become, how do we move the region toward achieving our vision?

Valley Vision 2025 is a regional, public-private partnership with citizen involvement that is seeking to form a vision of what this region would like to be in the year 2025.

Valley Vision 2025 was initiated by the Maricopa Association of Governments and is guided by a committee made up of a diverse cross-section of business, civic and community leaders. Our goal is to provide a forum and an inclusive process in which the diverse residents of the region can shape our common future.

How Are We Developing Our Vision?

The 2025 vision is being developed collaboratively with multiple levels of citizen involvement. During the past year several hundred citizens from throughout the region participated in regional discussions and in local collaborative groups, providing input to the draft vision. Many more residents have responded to a detailed survey about all aspects of the future quality of life in the region, including land use, transportation, environmental quality, education and public safety.

The Valley Vision 2025 committee members have taken this input, as well as information about the County's existing and projected conditions, and developed a draft vision and goals for the region's future. These draft goals are the key to realizing our vision. Goals define the broad vision with tangible, attainable goals that can be measured over time. Valley Vision 2025 is presenting these draft goals for comment, input and revision this fall through a series of community forums.

What Themes and Principles Underlie this Vision?

Throughout the discussion and deliberations of the Valley Vision 2025 process, it has been clear that our region has a great deal to be proud ofCour multicultural heritage, our unique desert environment, our strong economic performance and the excellent quality of life that many people in the region enjoy. As we discussed our present and future challenges, one key principle emerged: continuous improvement through community engagement. Although our region has considerable strengths, in order to be a truly great place we need to be honest in evaluating our shortcomings so that we can improve. And with so many jurisdictions and such challenging issues, it will take the participation of regional leaders from all walks of life to address our common concerns.

This principle of continuous improvement through community engagement is based on four
themes, which also emerged through the public input process. These themes serve as the core of this draft vision:

• People: Caring for the well being of all of our residents can strengthen our community fabric.
  
• Place: Our community identity can be enhanced through high-quality, well-planned growth that preserves the region's distinctive southwestern desert heritage and its natural and working landscapes.
  
• Prosperity: Our community's wealth can be sustained and broadened by connecting economic growth to communities that need it most.
  
• Partnerships: Our community can take action to move toward its vision by developing innovative partnerships to meet our goals.

These themes - based on an overall principle of continuous improvement - signal a shift away from the old pillars of the regional economy - the "Five C's," of cotton, citrus, cattle, copper and climate - to new priorities for a new economy and community - the "Five P's" of People, Place, Prosperity, Partnerships and Principles.

In the new economy where global competition and information technology are pervasive, we find that there is a congruence between the issues that people care about and what makes a region economically competitive. In a recent study, What Matters in Greater Phoenix, researchers identified nine major factors that the region's citizens see as comprising their quality of life: education, public safety and crime, health/health care, environment, families and children, economy, transportation-mobility, community, and arts-culture-recreation. All major studies of Arizona's economic competitiveness point to the fact that businesses look at these same factors when determining whether to locate or expand. In the new economy, where employees' knowledge and skills are a company's most important asset, our region's long-term economic vitality rests largely on our commitment to this place and its people.
The "Five P's" emphasize the region's most important assets in the information age: People (knowledge and skills), Place (distinctive quality of life, special assets people want and companies need), Prosperity (thriving, high wage industries), Partnerships (capacity to take action regionally) and Principles (common values and vision).

VALLEY VISION 2025

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR A NEW ECONOMY AND NEW COMMUNITY

What Goals Can We Set to Focus Our Actions?

Valley Vision 2025 has drafted potential goal statements to guide investment and action. These draft goals are organized by the four themes: people, place, prosperity and partnerships.

PEOPLE: Goals for investing in the skills and well being of our residents

• We improve the range of employment opportunities in our regional economy so that all people have access to jobs that provide for economic well being.
• All children have high quality schools that are consistently ranked in the top third tier of states according to major indicators of academic and educational excellence.
• Our institutions of higher education provide excellence in learning, enriching our intellectual life and enhancing our economic competitiveness.
• All people have access to continuing education for life long learning and skill building.
• All people have access to affordable health care education, prevention, and treatment.
• We respect and celebrate the unique diversity of the people in our region.
• People in crisis are supported by a social safety net that helps them resolve their immediate needs and deal with long-term issues.
• All people remain independent and contributing members of our community.
• We allow children to enjoy childhood while preparing them for responsible adulthood.
• Government is responsive to the needs of its citizens, protective of their rights, effective and efficient in the execution of duties and responsible with the expenditure of public funds.
• Our people are informed, engaged and responsible citizens.

PLACE: Goals for promoting an urban form that creates a sense of place and preserves our region's distinctive southwestern landscapes and open space

Creating a Sense of Place

• We invest in an urban form that creates a sense of place by preserving our Sonoran desert heritage and our natural and agricultural landscapes.
• We invest in an urban form that creates distinctive neighborhoods with individual, recognizable characters.
• We invest in an urban form that is people friendly, where children can walk to school safely and adults can access services close to their homes.
• Valley residents feel safe and secure in their homes, on streets, shopping, at work, in their neighborhoods, and where they congregate.
• Growth decisions in the region better integrate land use and transportation.
• Communities in our region seek a better balance between jobs, housing and services.
• Our growth management respects private property rights, recognizing that each individual has a responsibility to promote the long-term quality of life in our region.
• Our effective regional transportation system provides convenient access to jobs and other opportunities.
• We ensure mobility for all.
• Housing is available throughout the region to people at all income levels.
• Police, fire and emergency medical services are integrated into communities, responsive to local needs and accountable to citizens.
• Our utilities and infrastructure are safe, reliable, affordable, accessible, environmentally sound and aesthetic.

Preserving our Southwestern Landscape and Open Space

• We promote the sustainable use of our air and water resources.
• We expand and sustain an integrated, contiguous open space system of regional parks, desert and mountain preserves, and public and private lands that will be a legacy for future generations.
• We protect and improve appropriate public access to open space in desert and mountainous areas.
• We take significant measures to preserve the Sonoran desert habitat and encourage the use of plants that are appropriate to the region.
• We have access to urban parks or open space areas within walking distance of our homes.
• We preserve our agricultural heritage, maintaining our connection to the land.
  

PROSPERITY: Goals for promoting a diverse economy by growing innovative businesses

PARTNERSHIPS: Goals for creating strategic regional partnerships that promote the goals of Vision 2025

• We ensure that the regional transportation decision-making processes are responsive and accountable to public interests and that transportation funding is adequate and fair.
• We forge long-term, innovative and systemic partnerships between educators and employers that allow us to respond to the changing workforce preparation needs of our globally competitive, regional economy.
• Strong partnerships between business and the K-12 educational system lead to revitalized schools that attract and retain people and resources in existing neighborhoods.
• We develop regional decision-making processes to effectively balance growth and open space needs to ensure regional economic prosperity.
• We develop the capacity to tackle regional challenges by building strong public-private partnerships based on business, local government, education and community collaboration.