Imagine Greater Tucson
Phase I Data Gathering
| Hispanic Chamber of Commerce / Hispanic Political Action Committee | ||
| Hungry Fox Restaurant - 4637 E. Broadway Bl., Tucson | ||
| Date of Conversation: Friday, February 25, 2011 Time: 7:30 � 9:30 AM | ||
| Facilitator: Patrick Hartley Recorder: Becky Flores | ||
| Number of Tables: 1 Number of Participants: 6 | ||
| Theme 1. Small Town | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| Family is here | ||
| Small | ||
| Small town feel | ||
| Family friendly | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| Limited affordable family activities | ||
| Theme 2. The Desert Environment | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| Weather | ||
| Weather | ||
| Weather | ||
| Sonoran Desert (beautiful natural surroundings) and wildlife | ||
| Desert terrain and proximity to mountains | ||
| Open spaces and desert | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| Developers damaging environment unnecessarily | ||
| More concern for water needs | ||
| Conserve desert | ||
| Environmental justice | ||
| Why is this important? How does this affect you? | ||
| Thank god for Southern and Northern Arizona (they give some balance to that wasteland in the middle of the state) | ||
| Still have lots of greenery, we have to value it now | ||
| We have a large and active environmental community; which are sensitive and influence the government | ||
| There will be a tourism drop - if we destroy our desert what else do we have to offer? | ||
| Educate newcomers on how to conserve water | ||
| We values the desert - it's a unique environment | ||
| We need on-going community awareness about our effects on the desert | ||
| Water quality affects/compromises health. It's a huge problem | ||
| Water wars- need a more regional plan that takes others' needs into consideration | ||
| Water is the key to the desert environment because it is a limited resource | ||
| Governmental planning/zoning needs to include mixed-use, not just blading over the desert for housing developments | ||
| It really is a limited resource; once it's gone, it's gone. The quiet is great | ||
| Theme 3. Community | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| Small community neighborhoods, family oriented | ||
| Community | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| Stereotyping "shoulds" and "should nots" | ||
| Small "power base" | ||
| Divisiveness; political and ethnic | ||
| Overall opportunities in all areas for advancement | ||
| Division between "have's" and "have nots" | ||
| Why is this important? How does this affect you? | ||
| This place does feel small- the sense of community is right there | ||
| How do we keep the community unified after the tragic shooting? | ||
| We all make decisions based on our relative position within the community (it's about awareness of that position) | ||
| The Hispanic population is spreading out in this community | ||
| Creates an understanding with community - how they grow and evolve because of growth and conscience decisions | ||
| It's a matter of "me" or "us" mentality | ||
| Less likely to despair and participate in criminal activity if community is strong | ||
| Quality of life issues - higher quality is knowing neighbors, feel safer, helps lower crime | ||
| It's related to size - the largeness and the divisiveness. We need to have people connect more | ||
| Different perspectives on how to solve problems, more choices/ideas | ||
| Can move forward with visions | ||
| Valuing different opinions | ||
| Everybody takes care of each other (example: 3 families in one house) | ||
| Theme 4. Business and Politics | ||
| 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? | ||
| Foreclosures | ||
| Employment opportunities (no opportunity for advancement) | ||
| Term limits for all elected officials | ||
| Government divisions and power struggles | ||
| Disconnect of values from Maricopa County | ||
| Theme 5. Education | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| Schools (private) | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| Poor funding for library materials | ||
| Lack of UofA community connectedness | ||
| Education funding | ||
| Education quality | ||
| Education (differences in funding based on demographics) | ||
| Why is this important? How does this affect you? | ||
| Education gives people more choices | ||
| Education lifts all boats - lifts the base of the whole community | ||
| Often that choice isn't a real choice due to income levels | ||
| The positive is that we have a choice, the negative is that we have a choice (in regards to public/charter education) | ||
| Better articulation between community college and the University | ||
| The public system has to be strong | ||
| If more people have more money, they can spend more and support our businesses | ||
| Better civil/civic engagement | ||
| Lessens divisiveness | ||
| Community more active - less trouble with the law when better educated | ||
| It is key to both the quality and the quantity of life - it effects the total population/community | ||
| Develop a qualified workforce | ||
| improving education brings more businesses here, makes us more competitive when looking to bring more companies | ||
| Better education helps us improve the business environment | ||
| We need to both educate and graduate our students | ||
| Theme 6. Infrastructure | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| Traffic - lack of planning to meet population growth | ||
| Westside sewer smell | ||
| Traffic - more public transportation | ||
| Unlandscaped or unmaintained roadways | ||
| Why is this important? How does this affect you? | ||
| There are no new ideas coming from the officials | ||
| Glad that PAG is a supporter/funder of IGT | ||
| We have to hold government officials/employees accountable | ||
| Too many underutilized nomad lands | ||
| It has become a bike-friendly city - A+ bike lanes | ||
| Rio Nuevo money a key, but assure that the plans are implemented | ||
| It's hard to open a business due to regulation | ||
| We build and then we plan - look at the Westside, it was built before the planning | ||
| Transportation planning has not been holistic in this area | ||
| We isolate people due to lack of services for them | ||
| We don't take everyone into consideration while planning; youth, elderly, etc. | ||
| We don't have regional planning here | ||
| We are wasting money by not linking transportation with other decisions; such as land use | ||
| We should create hubs where people live to have efficient transit systems | ||
| Infrastructure is a man-made thing, so we can decide what to do with it. It affects everybody | ||
| One person per car is still the norm - we are polluting our air just to move a single person around | ||
| Better public transportation is also an air quality issue | ||
| Public transportation still has a negative image - it's looked at as something for only low-income people | ||
| The bus schedules are not available at bus stops, it is difficult to know where you are going | ||
| We are one big suburbia in this region | ||
| Planning for public transportation is difficult because we don't have hubs of population density to connect to in order for public transportation projects to be cost effective and efficient | ||
| Public transportation is so important, because the commute is so hard to do | ||
| Our major corridors don't look good | ||
| It needs more keeping up - who is taking the responsibility to remove weeds and fix potholes etc.? | ||
| Theme 7. Social Services | ||
| What do you most want to change or improve about our community/region? | ||
| Mentally ill homeless - we need more services for these people | ||
| Theme 8. Culture | ||
| What do you like the most about our community/region? | ||
| Cultural events celebrating different cultures | ||
| Mexican-American heritage | ||
| Culture | ||
| Cultural mix | ||
Tuesday, March 15, 2011