Imagine Greater Tucson
Phase I Data Gathering
| Tucson Ministry Fellowship | ||
| 8111 E. Broadway, Tucson | ||
| Date of Conversation: Thursday, February 10, 2011 Time: 1:00 – 3:00 PM | ||
| Facilitator: Patrick Hartley Recorder: Camila Thorndike | ||
| Number of Tables: 1 Number of Participants: 13 | ||
| Theme 1. Environment and Recreation | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| Climate, relatively clean air | ||
| The weather, location, people | ||
| Winter weather | ||
| Sunshine | ||
| The sun | ||
| Beauty of God's creation | ||
| Outdoor activities i.e. biking, hiking, running, camping | ||
| Able to walk, swim, hike, be outside most of the time | ||
| Extracurricular activities (sporting activities, etc.) | ||
| Golf courses | ||
| Mountains and views | ||
| Outdoor opportunities | ||
| Mountains are beautiful | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| Not enough solar | ||
| Theme 2. Social Services | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| Pockets of poverty near downtown | ||
| Continued support for people in recovery from drugs, alcohol, prostitution, homelessness and mental illness | ||
| Better social services for children/more mentors | ||
| Access to behavioral health services for the working poor | ||
| Better accountability/ current lack of accountability by funding agencies for the poor | ||
| Theme 3. Laws and Enforcement | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| One of the best adult probation offices in the country | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| Easy access to illegal drugs and drug sales | ||
| Border issues affecting us | ||
| Oppressive laws - burden the poor | ||
| Theme 4. Education | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| Higher education opportunities | ||
| Access to higher education | ||
| Variety of education opportunities | ||
| Kids worth investing in for our future | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| Education opportunities for all students | ||
| Quality of TUSD education (primary - HS) | ||
| High school "school system" | ||
| Theme 5. Business and Economics | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| Business all over town - not just centrally located | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| More incentives for business | ||
| More focus on manufacturing - producing items for sale | ||
| High prices | ||
| Need more input from small businesses as future moves forward | ||
| Better finances and housing market (more job opportunity) | ||
| Taxes - property taxes are increasing 10% a year | ||
| Poor business climate | ||
| Theme 6. Spirituality and Faith | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| Faith community networking | ||
| Church, prayer, freedom, focus | ||
| Church community | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| Need greater prayer focus and revival | ||
| This community needs to encourage "love" and all things | ||
| Theme 7. Transportation | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| Streets well layed out N/S and E/W | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| Crosstown freeway (NE side) | ||
| Traffic cameras (big brother) | ||
| Pot holes | ||
| Improve mass transportation | ||
| Find solution to traffic flow problems | ||
| Transportation (East/West) freeway) | ||
| Loop freeway | ||
| Traffic flow | ||
| Traffic | ||
| Why is this important? How does this affect you? | ||
| Better transportation upgrade so that not all construction is occurring at the same time | ||
| Downtown revitalization has had mixed results - Good: two new buildings going up downtown. Bad: La Placita standing vacant | ||
| Pharmaceutical companies are moving to Oro Valley - Ventana has good coordination with the airport authorities so that people can travel easily | ||
| Move businesses out of downtown to create pods or activity centers spread around the region | ||
| This is related because businesses don't locate here due to our transportation system | ||
| We are losing our young people because there is no economic opportunity | ||
| Too many stop lights | ||
| Good transportation systems are necessary to attract businesses. People don't like sitting in their cars for hours | ||
| Need to plan bus stops near businesses | ||
| What about those that can't afford to drive? | ||
| Cost of public transportation is high. We like our freedom and driving. We need to recognize we're not an East Coast city | ||
| Safety is a concern because people are exposed to the elements - have to walk to far | ||
| Air pollution | ||
| Better transportation will reduce congestion and commute time | ||
| Theme 8. Government | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| Government had to step into the void in terms of providing social services and support because churches and other community groups have failed | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| Lack of city/county leadership/vision | ||
| More unity and political conservatism | ||
| Rio Nuevo debacle | ||
| Lack of solid vision and leadership (both governmental and community) | ||
| More inclusion of the evangelical community by city/county coordinators | ||
| More user-friendly zoning/planning/permit departments of the city and county (4 churches) | ||
| Local government needs to be business friendly | ||
| Why is this important? How does this affect you? | ||
| Government policies can also cause monopolies | ||
| Without some government and regulation - monopolies will result | ||
| Where services are needed, community churches are there | ||
| Original government was only for mail and protection of people | ||
| Government focus should be: protecting people, infrastructure | ||
| Break things down into smaller groups (like wards) | ||
| Business roundtables: every council ward holds one - encourages community participation and positive speaking so people share their ideas. As participants, we go home and can speak more positively about our community to our families, friends, etc. | ||
| It's a vicious cycle that we need to break - we need to ensure that young people and children make good decisions | ||
| It all comes back to community and the quality of the people | ||
| But there still needs to be regulation because people make selfish decisions (if people were more moral, they would need less government and supervision) | ||
| Take politics out of business | ||
| A large city council without a strong mayor is the reason that government is indecisive | ||
| Our vision should be "the easiest region to start a business" | ||
| SLC (Phoenix etc.) governments are more responsive | ||
| New businesses struggle to get established because there is too much jumping through hoops | ||
| We've grown so much so fast that the government services are lagging | ||
| Too much red tape | ||
| Mentality of the government (planning, zoning permits etc.) is very difficult | ||
| Theme 9. Community | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| Pueblo feel | ||
| Friendliness | ||
| Desire to make things better | ||
| Friendly people | ||
| Diversity of cultures/thoughts/opinions | ||
| People, diversity, opportunity | ||
| Big city with a small town warmth | ||
| Small town feeling | ||
| Networking | ||
| Smallish for a city-connected | ||
| Size - better opportunities to network | ||
| Old west ruggedness | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| Finger pointing | ||
| Isolated uncommunicating groups | ||
| Rough on the edges, messy violent, ungodly, apathetic rough on each other | ||
| Raising budget needs through community ideas | ||
| Entitlement mentality | ||
| Too much negative media | ||
| Quality of life | ||
| Why is this important? How does this affect you? | ||
| Tucson used to have a safe houses program- but the neighborhoods have disintegrated since that time | ||
| In another city, kids had identified safe houses that they could go to if they felt threatened on a walk home from school | ||
| Shut-door churches: where do people go when in need | ||
| Hands-on, active, outside service projects - combining good weather and the need for activity= a good idea to help blighted areas of the city | ||
| It's a good sign that things are happening all over the city- for example "powwows" for supporters of the refugee community | ||
| You only motivate people by "fanning an extravagant hope," not by playing to their fears and their negative side | ||
| People need a vision to get up for in the morning that is beyond individual goals | ||
| The more that we can strengthen our families, the better the whole community is (family is the foundation of community) | ||
| Schools are trying to become our churches | ||
| There are too many laws and rules about not being able to touch/discipline students in the schools | ||
| We're moving so fast as a culture that sometimes we can't identify problems, such as increased drug and alcohol abuse - in our own kids and everywhere else | ||
| We need more places like community centers and boys and girls clubs (for adults too) where people can have the sense of family, not just an institution (like what the church was designed for | ||
| The culture is huge and getting stronger | ||
| January 8th brought us together | ||
| We honor and celebrate our differences better than most other communities | ||
| Cultural diversity makes us rich - the melting pot and the idea that we are all still Tucsonans | ||
| Working together with Hispanic congregations is unique to Tucson | ||
| We are isolated from everywhere else but not from each other | ||
| People are willing to go out and "hug a cactus" | ||
| Native Tucsonans are a minority and always replaced by people from elsewhere- but the culture of the place in maintained | ||
| Tucson is connected to its history | ||
| Here (unlike, say Hawaii)- there is a certain ruggedness | ||
| The weather makes us happy | ||
| This town - like a small town, it makes you want to reach out to neighbors. Maybe this is because it's so hot, you have to give people water | ||
| Connections - we don't want to be isolated | ||
Sunday, February 20, 2011