Imagine Greater Tucson
Phase I Data Gathering
| 29th Street Coalition | ||
| Hardesty Center, 1100 S. Alvernon Wy, Tucson | ||
| Date of Conversation: Thursday, January 27, 2011 Time: 6:00 – 8:00 PM | ||
| Facilitator: Patrick Hartley Recorder: Joanie Sawyer | ||
| Number of Tables: 1 Number of Participants: 12 | ||
| Theme 1. Greening of Tucson | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| Focus on improving Tucson | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| I want more "green" initiatives | ||
| Increase the use of solar energy | ||
| Theme 2. Natural Environment | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| Scenery/climate | ||
| Mountains and hiking/nature nearby | ||
| Sonoran desert and mountain ranges | ||
| No snow (decent weather) even the heat is ok | ||
| Access to outdoor living | ||
| Theme 3. Cultural Diversity | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| Bilingual and bicultural | ||
| Trans-cultural (hi)story | ||
| Diversity of culture | ||
| Tucson Meet Yourself | ||
| Great population diversity | ||
| Diversity of cultures and it's expanding | ||
| Local aviation history | ||
| Culture mix | ||
| Thriving arts community that makes us unique and special | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| Willingness to be offensive (aggressive bumper stickers, etc.) | ||
| Theme 4. Economic Development | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| Small business environment | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| Better high paying jobs | ||
| Improve support of business environment (costs of running a business) | ||
| Improve private/public funding opportunities | ||
| Theme 5. Urban Planning and the Environment | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| Relatively low light pollution | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| Have an urban equivalent of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan that protects people and the urban environment | ||
| Enhance/create a vibrant Downtown - one that draws all residents (e.g. TMY) Need stores, more affordable restaurants, and more public events | ||
| Uncontrolled sprawl | ||
| A systematic plan to improve the aesthetic/visual condition of our community | ||
| More compact urban development | ||
| Theme 6. Transportation and Accessibility | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| My neighborhood is in a centralized area | ||
| Easy access to most points of interest | ||
| Bicycle friendly town | ||
| Good traffic arteries | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| Streets get flooded with a heavy rain | ||
| Transportation (intra and inter regional) Grant-JARC | ||
| Availability of public transportation | ||
| Bring in Light Rail! | ||
| Better regional public transportation | ||
| More events and access to some of our senior citizens | ||
| More attention to transportation services for senior citizens and the disabled | ||
| Why is this important? How does this affect you? | ||
| Public transportation provides a place for social interaction, less congestion, and reduced pollution | ||
| Focus transportation more on seniors and the disabled | ||
| Need to develop transportation initiatives for residents | ||
| 29th St CAN- should expand this to other parts of the region | ||
| Seniors need assistance in getting around. It is difficult for those in wheelchairs to take the bus | ||
| There is need for public transportation to get people downtown | ||
| Transportation choices have a major impact on the environment | ||
| It used to be easy to get around Tucson, but now it's scary to drive downtown | ||
| There is a lack of response from council members | ||
| With people being laid off, we have a loss of institutional knowledge | ||
| Department heads have too much infighting. Worried about their own department instead of the larger picture | ||
| We need to listen to the experts - they have technical knowledge of the transportation system | ||
| Cutting down on traffic will reduce potholes and maintenance costs | ||
| Need to consider how widening roadways affects neighborhoods | ||
| Theme 7. Education | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| The University of Arizona (research) | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| Schools, for the most part, stink (insufficient) | ||
| More funding for K-12 education | ||
| Need stronger support for public schools | ||
| Why is this important? How does this affect you? | ||
| Parents don't get involved anymore - we need to compete with other countries, but how can we do that if some parents just don't care enough | ||
| Some Charter schools should be shut down because they lack accountability and are not providing a high quality education | ||
| Kids are calling out for attention and adult engagement | ||
| Each classroom is different - some are very high quality; others, not so much | ||
| Middle school can be a training ground for dysfunction. Kids are not thriving | ||
| We have failing high school students | ||
| Liberal Arts as well as technology are important, because what's the point in having new technology if we don't have the soul to appreciate it with (Liberal Arts education can provide that soul) | ||
| Our future needs to focus on training our youth in technology | ||
| I would hate to see us become a big business town, but why don't we utilize those educated at the University to bring in new jobs | ||
| We are the new Mississippi - 49th in education funding | ||
| Theme 8. Community Caring | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| Small town feel | ||
| A substantial body of people that care about social justice and quality of life issues | ||
| Folks willing to create events and opportunities for others | ||
| Friendliness of people | ||
| Community's eagerness to get involved | ||
| Small downtown with many diversities | ||
| Feeling of community | ||
| Volunteerism; people really seem to care for each other (more so than in other cities where I've lived) | ||
| Friends and family | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| I want fewer people living on the street | ||
| Disconnected youth/people- bully culture | ||
| Why is this important? How does this affect you? | ||
| What are the barriers to helping others? How do we get past the fear? | ||
| Those of us that have lived in a big city value that this is a caring community | ||
| It's something that we don't want to lose | ||
| Caring in part of the culture of Tucson | ||
| We need to maintain the small town feel - the "village sense" | ||
| A caring community is an effective community. Lot's of good ideas come from it | ||
| One of Tucson's attributes is that it is a caring community | ||
| Cars create isolation and we are too busy | ||
| Theme 9. Government and Leadership | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| Opportunity for innovation | ||
| Opportunity for growth | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| Inequalities of resources (schools, opportunities, jobs, housing, etc.) | ||
| Friendlier downtown business attitude | ||
| Better county involvement in outlying communities | ||
| Getting more interest from ALL residents- getting them involved | ||
| That codes and policies that protect neighborhoods and quality of life are actually enforced/implemented | ||
| Government entities to really listen to citizens | ||
| Somewhat isolationist attitudes that "my neighborhood or area of town is best" and should get all of the benefits and monetary support from government agencies | ||
| Lack of funds for infrastructure and road building | ||
| More effective government | ||
| Less Good Old Boys control, need new ideas | ||
| City leadership | ||
| Improve business and community relations | ||
| Why is this important? How does this affect you? | ||
| There should be less influence of business in local government | ||
| Residents don't feel they have a voice - need to educate residents/H.S students to get involved and feel empowered | ||
| Leadership needs to be on an even level | ||
| Local government is the starting point | ||
| Great dissatisfaction with are leadership | ||
| There is a lack of public meeting spaces for engagement/sharing, i.e. the Second Saturday event downtown | ||
| Our local media has become a mouthpiece for business interests and not the community | ||
| Need more media recognition of those that are doing positive things in the community - the success stories should be advertised | ||
| Lack of willingness for the public to get involved beyond their home | ||
| We don't honor and celebrate those who are civically involved and improving their community | ||
| We have less response from council members | ||
Wednesday, February 02, 2011