Imagine Greater Tucson 2010-11 Phase I Community Conversation and Survey Statements Related to A diversified economy that attracts and supports major businesses and sectors

1	A large part of Tucson's economy depends on the military and defense spending and those industries bring a lot of money into our economy which is good for Tucson. Also the military and aviation in general were here in and around Tucson for many years and it is an important part of life in Tucson (and important to the freedom of the Nation) and I feel like we must learn to not only live with it but be thankful for its presence.
2	A visionary leader (think Mayor Daley in Chicago) can put a town on his back - with the help of the town media - and move it forward.
3	Acceptance of tourism as a major part of our economy
4	Access to a world class research institution, and all of the rich educational opportunities it provides is priceless. The idea that the best astronomical telescopes in the world are made at 6th street & Cherry while Nasa probes to Mars are controlled from 6th avenue and Drachman makes me just gush with pride for my community.
5	Acknowledge and accept that southern Arizona produces 60-80% of the nation's copper and is one of the greatest copper districts in the world. Critical mineral deposits can only be mined where they occur. Society as we know it today could not exist without copper.
6	Airport.
7	Any attempt to bring in progressive businesses and industry will fail without a strong public education component. Tucson has to fight locally and in Phoenix to improve this aspect of our community life.
8	As a business owner I feel that our business is deeply affected by our leaders decisions, or lack of decisions. I do not feel that we do not have the strongest leaders in positions of political power and as a result we are for example not attracting and keeping new enterprise that a community like Tucson should.
9	As much as I love the social service feel, we do need to attract some other industry. We are right on the I-10 corridor and should make better use of it - ie. manufacturing and shipping
10	Astronomy
11	Attract industries that do their jobs well and have low environmental impact
12	Attract some large employers
13	BalaTry to bring in some larger, high-paying companies like Raytheon.
14	Be proactive about who we invite to the community (what industries)
15	Because of economics (developers need to make profit)
16	Because of our close vicinity to Mexico there is major drug running across the border and staged from Tucson. This is a drawback for we who live here and for encouraging businesses and large employer bases to settle here.
17	Being a city of over 1 million, we should be able to support sports franchises of different kinds. One of the biggest losses to our community recently is minor league baseball and spring training. I would like to see spring training brought back. The minimum drive a team in Florida must make during Spring training is around 6 hours to a game. Tucson is only 2 hours to a game and would look very nice to teams in Florida. This, along with minor league baseball, have been part of what make Tucson special. Losing these negatively effects our culture of who we are.
18	Better Newspaper
19	Better health care
20	Better support for bringing new business and military to town
21	Better tourism advertising - more real
22	Big employers work in cycles � narrow base
23	Bottom line, tourism is Tucson's major business. Phoenix has all the industry. We should do more to improve our financial situation by creating the premier tourist destination of Arizona in Tucson.
24	Bring in some big business
25	Bring industrial businesses/jobs to Tucson. There are 419 acres zoned industrial in the Flowing Wells area along I-10. Work is continuing to get this property shovel ready. After they arrive, get JTED involved to train future employees of these businesses.
26	Bring more industry back
27	CHOICE OF UTILITY COMPANIES
28	Can't do much about it but our media is terrible. Sensationalized, slanted reporting, lack of investigation, seems to be pitting cities against each other, and be influenced by those with deep pockets with no sense of journalistic integrity.
29	City of Tucson mayor and council and Pima County administrator and supervisors are showing very poor leadership and should all be replaces with compentent leaders that represent the people of the community and not special interest. Special interests (developers and money interests) are give most everything they want at the cost to the tax payers and community people.
30	City-wide consciousness raising of the multi-cultural diversity we have in Tucson. Billboards, PSAs, etc.
31	Clean air is crucial to our health and to attracting tourism dollars, and even to attracting businesses to relocating here.
32	Continue to pursue biotechnology.
33	Develop higher paying jobs by attracting new high-tech industry
34	Develop tourism in Tucson - promote our 'old West' heritage - encourage the film industry to return to Tucson.
35	Developers build on pristine land, expect the tax payers to foot the bill for their destruction
36	Diversity is needed in our industrial base
37	Does Davis Monthan bring more money than UofA?
38	Don't let mining interests take our ground water.
39	Due to the U of A, Pima CC, DMAF, retiree's and Ratheon (sic), we attract people from all walks of life, culture and religion, so we're given an opportunity to learn from one another.
40	Each city has its own feel based on its main industry
41	Economic Development in Technological Fields
42	Economic base= military, University, residential development, Bio-tech, Ventana Medical Systems
43	Economy based on a housing growth
44	Encourage Large Business to come to Tucson
45	Family, friends, and co-workers getting terrible education from national media
46	Find some way to get major league baseball back
47	Focusing on short term profit as opposed to long term community benefits in development has resulted in unattractive development which has resulted in major, clean industries rejecting Tucson for expansion and diminishes the quality of life for residents.
48	For folks in the outlying regions urgent care and emergency care continues to be a problem...having had children with asthma this has been an issue over the years
49	Fortune 500 companies should look into Tucson
50	Get industry
51	Get rid of the developers. Bulldoze some of the nastier developments.
52	Good variety of services, easy access, considerate and affordable
53	Hard for large companies to start a business here
54	Health care
55	Health care (VA) overloaded with snowbirds - includes elders - health care is all-inclusive
56	Health care is excellent
57	Health care very important
58	Heart Hospital, Arizona Oncology right on top of it
59	High quality of health care available
60	Hospital care is outstanding
61	Hospitality Business
62	Houses Davis Montham
63	I am an architect, but we need a sustainable economy based on tourism, solar, optics, and bioscience.
64	I came to Tucson for work primarily. Our current primary industries are dependent on unsustainable practices such as military and weapons for military. We lose many University students to other cities. We have abundant solar resources. Other states are moving ahead on this. There are technologies available that use less water to create solar so there should be no reason to move forward. We are also leaders in water harvesting and could capitalize on this if the Chamber of Commerce were to include green industry and not just developers and old standards.
65	I have a small marketing company and UMC is one of my large clients. Being involved with them for the past 5 years has opened my eyes to all the incredible docs and research that we have in our own backyard. I know that some folks think of UA as a small school in a small town with a great basketball program...we are so much more and are growing in every direction so rapidly.
66	I like the fact that I have a feeling in this community that I am not just a 'number' and that I will never see anyone I know because of the size of the community. I work in the tourism industry and feel a sense of family with many of them and I see them outside of work too!!
67	I like the idea of the downtown being equal in employment to other areas, such as the UofA and Raytheon
68	I like the new areas around Club Congress and Maynards, I like to see areas like this continue to be encouraged. This adds to the quality of life, and the tourism.
69	I love the earth and want it to be clean and usable for a long time... by the way, mining can be reasonably sustainable and it is important to the Arizona economy!
70	I think Tucson is a great place to live, but as the jobs leave Tucson, or don't come to Tucson, then many of us can't survive. If we don't bring jobs then it becomes more expensive for all that live here to go on living. Many have to take unemployment and other social services just to survive. I'm not against helping others, but it becomes a draw to the government and those that are working and also the companies that are already here. That is why the quicker we can incentivise companies to bring good jobs to Tucson, the quicker we can recover. Jobs also bring dollars for funding projects such as parks, and arenas and open space. Funding is king for all projects in Tucson. So bring jobs. I see nothing wrong with a mine, that will bring billions of dollars to our community, especially since that is one of the 5 Cs of our state seal, 'COPPER' (and it's what the state seal is made of).
71	I wish more comprehensive focus be given to attracting larger industries with better paying jobs, offering higher skill jobs. It would be an incentive to retain students coming out of our own universities.
72	I wish we had some more corporations here. It is so limiting that we do not have hardly any big business here
73	I would like every person in the city to feel safe and cared for: every child should get a good education, and every person should have access to affordable, quality health care; a safe place to live; food security; and the opportunity for regular (preferably meaningful, useful) work.
74	I would like to see more high quality indutries and jobs come to Tucson, e.g., Roche, Advanced Ceramics (Sahuarita), Optical and solar indurstries. Tucson is a really neat place, but could definitely use a higher percentage of educated and dynamic people.
75	I would promote Tucson more to groups, entertainment agents, etc to improve the viability and economic impact on our community.
76	If we don't stop agricultural and mining usage of water (basically mining water), we're screwed. Agriculture and mining now use 80%+ of water in this area, and if we'd just stop the most stupid usage (pasture, cotton, pecans, and copper mining), we'd have enough water, despite the drought.
77	Improve the economy so that people could make a living wage here. entice business to actually come here and STAY here to improve the tax base. the Uof A and raytheon cannot be the only major business in town
78	Industry focus of distribution and logistics
79	It is getting better, much improvement thanks to RTA and Sun Tran. But ridership still seems low and RTA appears headed for a slowdown. Big Tucson employers, including public government, need to openly support alternate work schedules and telecommuting.
80	It makes it an interesting place to live and visit
81	It seems that more effort should go into attracting large-scale manufacturing and high-tech businesses to the area. Creating the right climate to attract such businesses would also grow the ancillary, support businesses that wouuld follow. Both would then increase quality job opportunities for our citizens.
82	It's pretty generic, and not always in the right place. There are an amazing amount of PR angles that aren't 'exploited' that give folks a more real picture of Tucson, we're not just cactus, cowboys, and Ratheon.
83	Jobs, jobs, jobs! We have become a mecca for low wage, low skill service jobs. There are few choices for any recent college grads to stay in Tucson, and limited opportunities for the rest of us who would like to move on and up. For example, the environmentalists are making it extremely difficult for Rosemont Copper to bring in high paying jobs that in turn would help spur the economy.
84	Large corporations and large retail entities often choose other cities over Tucson because of the 'red tape' they face here, the lack of ability to make decisions quickly, and the unwillingness to give deep tax breaks that other cities are willing to give. We lost Spring Training! We lose large retail chains! We don't expand in big business!l
85	Less big box stores
86	Limit sprawl - don't sell land/buy land to limit sprawl - allow higher density
87	Lower utility costs for residents to match the average family income.
88	Major league baseball
89	Making downtown brighter and cleaner would bring more visitors and help tourism.
90	Media coverage
91	Medians/road quality
92	Medical/Technological focus (Raytheon, UMC, etc.)
93	Mining
94	Monopolies vs. solar economy and industry
95	More advertisements
96	More big business in Tucson (only small firms)
97	More focus on manufacturing - producing items for sale
98	More high-tech industry
99	More of a selection of utilities companies would allow for competition. Possibly not a shut off of the whole Rita ranch area.
100	Much of the lack of cohesion is - I believe - due to the number of military and defense people that began arriving in the 50's. The values of those involved in military and defense are very different from the values of those other dominant economic sectors and I find them to be anti-social which I think is unsustainable. An economy that is 15% based in defense/military isn't a problem. But one that is 50% is.
101	My husband and I have been fortunate to find jobs here and have carved out professional niches. I cannot say that for many of my friends and colleagues, who wanted to stay here post college/grad school, but found the opportunites limiting. Even though my husband and I have good jobs here, we often wonder if we are limiting ourselves professionally by staying here. We love the area, and have deep family roots here, and will stay as long as we can continues to professionally thrive. I just wish that there were more opportunites for well paying jobs here. I have been very encouraged by the recent news of Roche bringing well-paying jobs to the area. Lets have more than that!
102	Need big business in this town to make good paying jobs
103	Need more diverse industries; more knowledge based and high value industries; more sustainable industry as opposed to housing, mining, tourism, agriculture based on water.
104	Need to understand what's driving the perception of crime (media and politicians)
105	Needs more industry
106	New industries can take environment into consideration and protect the environment (not use too much water)
107	News that speaks to what's right in our valley and what's been accomplished or done for the better.
108	Newspaper/City communication
109	No community can grow without businesses, and ours continues to grow while jobs continue to become more scarce and less well-paid. Our community can't live on restaurants and service work, we need manufacturing and high tech support, and we are a great city for both of those. What is stopping those companies from coming here? This needs to be looked at and corrected.
110	Not enough big companies
111	Our economic prioritizing of prisons and the arm's industry
112	Our economy is largely based on a service model economy, rather than a high tech/high skill-driven model. Would be nice if we could justify more 'livable wage' job creation.
113	Our economy is very shallow with too much emphasis on government spending and service industries. We do not manufacture much or have industry that provides REAL value.
114	Our fiber optics, medical research, and astronomy programs are outstanding. These are facets we must promote and enhance.
115	Pharmaceutical companies are moving to Oro Valley - Ventana has good coordination with the airport authorities so that people can travel easily
116	Potential for improvement in interstate commerce / industry
117	Professional hockey
118	Proximity of Health Care facilities
119	Public/municipal information exchange
120	Restaurants/theaters
121	Seeing the stars at night is both beautiful and useful for astronomical research
122	Seems like there are few major employers here; seems like there is so much more opportunity in Phoenix. Also, if you look at a city like Pittsburgh, there are many more educational institutions. Why is there no private liberal arts college here?
123	Selling Tucson's soul to housing developers sucks the vitality out of the city, makes undeveloped desert areas further from midtown, creates a vast service economy instead of good, professional jobs
124	Service economy salaries
125	Service industries are neccessary for support of the population but are not a good measure of economic growth and can be a liability as seen in the last economic downturn. Manufacturing products, research and technoligical innovation are stong measures of our economic condition and the city and county should go overboard to embrace these industries. However, no bright CEO is going to allow expansion into Tucson and have his employees settle for the third world education. Clearly this is another liability with this city. Why do most, if not all the doctors and professors at U of A and UMC have their children attend private schools or District 16? Education is important to them. Even Greg Byrne, in his short understanding of Tucson knew enough to stay away from TUSD.
126	So it could provide more jobs
127	Stop Rosemount
128	Students who graduate from the university are leaving Tucson for higher paying jobs elsewhere. We must create more jobs and opportunities. We must fight for great companies to move here.
129	TIA
130	Taxes will go up to make up for the lack of large businesses
131	The Arizona Daily Star has devolved so badly I don't even consult it anymore - there's a huge void in balanced journalism - I find it difficult to get unbiased news
132	The area around the airport and Raytheon should be cleaned up so that more people want to live and work nearby. It is the first thing that people see when flying in, and would give a much better first impression. It would also help to attract more businesses to the industrial area.
133	The banksters and developers immediately take over the foothills, build where our wild animals roam and cross, sell the real estate for money, leave the original neighborhoods in poverty and distress then leave!!!
134	The city has lost too many large companies and industries to keep future business from exploring Tucson as a base of operations. The loss of major military contracts, etc. has lost the city much needed revenue. And, it takes too long for businesses, even small ones, to get through all the red tape to start a business in the city.
135	The current rates do not come near covering the actual cost of getting potable water to us, and new development is being permitted water privilege which endangers agriculture, residences, and natural environments all over the state.
136	The fighters are noisy and disturb the peace but we have to put up with them because the base has so much money invested here. Also the interstate and traffic is totally built around the AF base , making it more difficult to travel on the east side.
137	The large presence of the military and defense industry
138	The military brings money here, and shouldn't be overlooked
139	The mines south of Tucson have devastated the beautiful desert and mountain views, and have created many environmental hazards. They have brought a few jobs to the area, however the price was not worth twice the number of jobs.
140	The mines still have the tax structure rig in their favor. That thinking will destroy our public school system.
141	The negative bashing of Tucson that is apparent in the media and other forms of communication.
142	The newspaper is still the number 1 source of information to many people. The Daily Star is an anti-everything embarrasment for a region this populated.
143	The only way to fix what's been broken is to bring money into the Old Pueblo. There is big money in tourism and entertainment.
144	The tech sector has to keep growing to create the jobs we need.
145	The weather brings tourism
146	There are a good many 'clean industries' that can be lured here. As a 'right to work' State, that gives us affordable labor. Unions have been instrumental in our economic difficulties in the past, ie; Copper, Auto industry, Garment etc. . . No longer an economic force globally!
147	There are no real jobs in the private sector unless you call customer service centers real. They don't pay that well and it is about all we ever seem to get.
148	There are so many places to go and things to do to stay active and enjoy the beauty of the area. So many knowledgeable volunteers who share their expertise with residents and visitors alike.
149	There are so many positive things council could do, but it seems the developers are rewarded while others are left to their own devices
150	There in lots of emerging technology here, but VERY little money to help drive it to commercialization. Again, I know there is activity, but there needs to be more.
151	There seems to be a lack of large business in town. I think that some of this may stem from ordnances in place to keep Tucson a 'small town.' It is time to leave that old town mentality behind and allow corporations to come in to build large buildings and infrastructure.
152	These high taxes in Tucson limit manufacturing growth in Tucson and our ability to bring more employment options to the community.
153	This is a bunch of foreign investors trying to steal our natural resources and send them to China, South Korea, India, and Canada.
154	This would promote longevity and a more peaceful type of life in this beautiful region. And if not that...then my #3 item would be to develop a REAL downtown. This would bring more business to this community from both locals and visitors.
155	Throughout most industries the Tucson Community values integrity.
156	Throw out the mayor & council & real estate special interests
157	Too much negative media
158	Tourism brings in visitors and new residents. Quality of life - enjoying the parks and nature
159	Trade-off - water supporting agriculture or urban development
160	Tucson Pops, museums, live theater, UA Presents, Tucson Symphony
161	Tucson has a lot to offer that would/should entice businesses to either use or utilize our area/resources which in turn would boost our economy to where it should be as a portal city. We should focus on the ongoing sale of these resources as a top priority.
162	Tucson has traditionally been a haven for artists of all kinds. We support a symphony, an opera, a theatre, and a ballet, plus several museums. And we have UApresents. Keep the arts alive! This means giving artists and arts companies EXCELLENT coverage in the newspaper, good homes for their performances, and educating the young about music and art - and making performances available to them.
163	Tucson is a desert town. We do not need more golf courses or swimming pools in every backyard. We had water in the Santa Cruz River and now there is none. The developers get as many faucets as they ask for regardless of who will be penalized later
164	Tucson is a wonderful community that could support a large industry. We have Davis Monthan and Ratheon, but could support other larger industries. We also have a wealth of craftsmen. People need to work.
165	Tucson is has very few large corporations and doesn't have a lot of middle market companies. As a result it's revenue base suffers. It needs more company and industry diversification.
166	Tucson is missing out! We need a professional hockey team!
167	Tucson is more relaxed than other communitites allowing for a friendly, unpretentious communication amongst each other. This does allow us to be on the cutting edge of research with the UofA and some of Southern Arizona's top employers.
168	Tucson is never going to be a corporate hub - so while we still need to work on attracting more business to our community, we need to come together as a community and promote the commodity that we do have - tourism. nature, culture, restaurants, history, resorts, weather
169	Tucson is relatively low-tech and the local economy reflects that.
170	Tucson needs jobs and bigger companies to move here to create a more stable economy. We can definitely offer the lifestyle, so we need to find other incentives as well.
171	Tucson needs to get serious about attracting Bio tech and High tech industries and the quality of well paying jobs that come with them. Tucson can not thrive on service sector jobs for the masses.
172	Tucson's economy is not sufficiently diverse to grow long-term. We need more industries here of all kinds. We have very few large, diverse companies and then a whole lot of small businesses. A community that has the doctors and lawyers to help the small businesses serve each other is fine, but for long-term expansion and growth we need more.
173	Tucson's vision should be to become the biotechnology capital of the southwest. Without a platform like this, higher paying jobs and therefore better educated citizens will continue to bypass Tucson.
174	Tucson, like so many other southwestern cities, is continually trying to balance the needs of growth with maintaining our landscape as a community. More infill is needed, and a much more concentrated development plan, without selling out to big developers.
175	U of A and other higher education organizations provide for both post secondary and adult learning opportunities. This has resulting in an excellent job base with the U of A & their Tech Park, Oro Valley Bio-Tech and Raytheon/defense based contractors. We need to attract and maintain more high-end jobs.
176	USE CHANNEL 12 AS A REAL TOOL FOR PROVIDING INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC
177	Utilities and streets need to be upgraded and maintained to alleviate the current state of disrepair.
178	Water availability is a critical issue that affects every aspect of the community, from the survival of species to the pace of development. The ground water situation is dire, but there is little community awareness efforts from maintstream sources (news outlets, billboards, etc.)
179	We can be proud that we are supporting the armed forces
180	We have an abundance of sun - get rid of mountain top mining, all coal mining as its polluting our environment
181	We have so many of them, and i think that our economy definitely depends on these local, small businesses. They add to the culture of our city, and they help define a little more about what we are. I include KXCI in this list.
182	We have some of the most beautiful scenery in the country, so why don't we see any movies being made here anymore? Are our taxes too high? Are our fees too much? I don't know, but I do know that movies bring people here, and once they see this place they are more likely to love it like I do! Let's get some pictures rolling!
183	We lack the manufacturing base and need quality employment opportunities here locally
184	We need more large employers.
185	We need to attract a Triple A franchise to Tucson and to bring more people to downtown Tucson. A baseball stadium with either downtown or mountain views will bring around 10,000 people to downtown Tucson. Additionally, a 15,000 seat arena with luxury boxes would attract concerts, a minor league basketball or hockey team, NCAA men's basketball tournaments, and possibly 1 or 2 UofA basketball games.
186	We need to be a center of educational excellence with more Basis, San Miguel, Imago Dei schools. Our P-20 education needs to be a beacon & mecca which will then attract high knowledge, high value employers
187	We should be the leader in solar energy rather than known for our air force base. nor should we continue to allow Raytheon be our best employer. solar energy jobs should be the best.
188	Why does a city like Albuquerque look like it has way more industry and business than Tucson...same size but everything is nicer and cleaner and their are many bigger business...can poor little Tucson get none and they all go to Phoenix.....
189	Wonderful doctors
190	Work actively to supplant call-center and poorly paid manufacturing jobs with high tech and research business.