Growth in the Tuscon Region

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Christopher Thornberg's PowerPoint Presentation
Christopher Thornberg, Ph.D., Founder and Managing Partner of Beacon Economics, on Growth and its Perils of Success, looking at the trends and bends of growth.



John Landis' PowerPoint Presentation
Professor John Landis, Ph.D., Crossways Professor of City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania, looks at Managing Growth - What Works and What Doesn't.



William Fulton's PowerPoint Presentation
William Fulton, President of Solimar Energy Research Group and Editor of the California Planning and Development Report, discusses how to make smart growth work.


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Decision at the Crossroads

More than 600 leaders from the public and private sectors and citizens attended the Tucson Growth Forum. The Arizona Daily Star sponsored the forum on the future of growth in the Tucson region on the campus of the University of Arizona. The Forum was proceeded by a survey of area citizens seeking the communities view point on the future of growth in the Tucson region conducted by the Star news staff. Primary funding for the Forum was provided by the Thomas R. Brown Foundations based in Tucson. It is also sponsored by the University of Arizona with the forum being conducted by The Communications Institute.

Coverage of forum:
Arizona Daily Star Editorial: Managed Growth is the Key 3.23.08
Panelists Address Fear of the Future
Finding Direction for the Future
Arizona Daily Star Editorial: Growth Forum Showed Need for Consensus 3.16.08
Arizona Daily Star Growth Survey Results Summary

Keynote Speakers PowerPoint Presentations:
Christopher Thornberg
John Landis
William Fulton



The purpose of the forum was to bring leading national experts on planning, many with extensive expertise in Arizona, to frame the principle issues and objectives that a long term plan for the region must include. The forum was NOT intended to present or develop a specific plan for the region. Local organizations will be invited to participate as will the citizens of the area.

The President of the University of Arizona committed the university's resources and cosponsorship and the Thomas R. Brown Foundations, a partner of The Communications Institute, will be funding the program costs.

One of the principal experts addressing the conference is William Fulton, President of Solimar Research, who has coordinated various research studies on land use in Arizona. Fulton is also as noted author on land use planning, a journalist writing for the Los Angeles Times, and president of California Planning and Development Report.

Professor John Landis, a native of the west, has studied the impact of planning decisions on communities throughout the western United States. Landis is now the Crossways Professor of City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania.

Christopher Thornberg is the principal and founder of Beacon Economics and is an expert in the study of regional economies, real estate dynamics, labor markets and business forecasting. Dr. Thornberg also teaches in the MBA program in the new Rady School of Business at UCSD.

Click on this link and send us information on you and/or your organization.

The Arizona Daily Star published a column by Institute President Jack Cox on growth and the forum. Click here to read the column. Read the November 13, 2007 Arizona Daily Star Editorial.

Watch for a full report on the forum.

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Arizona Daily Star Editorial
Published October 28, 2007

GET INVOLVED

When making endorsements, we demonstrate that we've done our homework and understand the issues. For example, we presented you with a "NO" position on Proposition 200 six weeks ago because we are convinced that it raises the right issues about water use and growth, but it is the wrong approach.

We think that voting for Prop. 200 in an attempt to halt growth, or as a way to send a stern "no confidence" message to Tucson's leadership, is foolhardy.
It's dangerous to play games with our collective future.

As a newspaper with a large and engaged daily audience, we offer an alternative.

We have the ability and the desire to communicate and gather diverse viewpoints. This is why, with the encouragement of all sides of the growth debate, we seek to reinforce the good work under way, hold those involved accountable and build consensus.

We are convinced that our community has alternatives and the will that can produce lasting public policy. Unlike in other states, the Arizona Legislature has not mandated regional planning and so we have grown haphazardly. This must change.

Those in support of Prop. 200 — thank you. You pressed the growth and water issues and called the question.

Thankfully, our community has the opportunity to do the right thing.

Here's how. In early February, whether Prop. 200 passes or not, we will convene an open community gathering. We want to educate and energize Southern Arizonans to come together and plan for our region's growth.

Our goal is to arrive at solid public policy based on fact and analysis, not political saber rattling or self-interest. The decisions we make will affect Southern Arizona for years to come.

Success will look like this: A two-pronged approach that takes stock of the good work already done while moving forward to advance practical ideas for water and land-use policy on a broad regional basis.

Joining us in this endeavor are the University of Arizona and its president, Robert Shelton, as well as a wide group of people who know and care about Southern Arizona.

But Tucson does not exist in isolation, which is why Arizona State University and its president, Michael Crow, have also joined the effort at our invitation.

We extend that invitation to others who believe, as we do, that together, common ground must be achieved without haste.

We're not the first to recognize this need. Over the years, reports have been made, studies have been done, plans have been communicated. They are all pieces of a complex puzzle. It's time to assemble the pieces. We need to create a picture of a Tucson that we want our descendants to inherit.

The Arizona Daily Star is assuming a leadership role not for ego, but because thoughtful community members have urged us to reach out. We want to help assemble the people, the knowledge and the creative ideas necessary to paint the picture on the puzzle box.

The Star and The Communications Institute of Los Angeles, Calif., will coordinate the forum. We are developing the format and the followup.

We will hold ourselves, Tucson's leadership and our consortium accountable for turning this opportunity into action.