Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Clean Energy for the Southwest

As an Arizonan, I can't help but to push for our state to jump on this opportunity, as it seems like the obvious place to brand itself as the solar energy capital of the country. With our state's budget deficit, we won't likely do what it takes, but I will gladly argue as to why we should. Here's the guest column/letter I just submitted to several of our regional newspapers:

Our country faces a dual crisis of unemployment and severe economic contraction, while at the same time seeking energy independence from foreign countries and mitigating the causes of global warming.

What better place than in the arid and sunny southwest to implement a new program of solar power generation and other clean energy technologies. Such a program is needed on a national level as well as within our state, and we need to act on this immediately.

The construction industry constitutes one of Arizona's largest employment sectors due to high historical growth. With businesses in this sector and related services suffering disproportionately more than others, our state faces a severe economic crisis. Add to that the anticipated declines in tourism, which comprise yet another substantial share of the state's economy, and things start to look even gloomier.

At the same time, Arizona is home to several electronics and semiconductor fabrication plants, with more planned in the near future. Not only are these facilities typically high-energy consumers, they also offer a spring board to bring in more high-tech outfits that can produce green technologies and better employment opportunities for our university graduates. Tucson is the Optics Valley; Phoenix is home to the Silicon Southwest; and several of our secondary markets boast military technology companies as local businesses.

So why not turn Arizona into the Solar State, or the Green Desert State, or something like it. If we don't, New Mexico and California most certainly will take this opportunity. Remember, they are suffering with us and they tend to be more proactive in seeking new businesses. Now is the time, more than ever, for Arizonans to step up and make this happen.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Great Post about John F. Long

An old friend of mine (from middle school, in fact) wrote a great post about a well known Phoenix-area developer who passed away recently. I thought it was not only share-worthy, but I also must react to it. But first, I can't help but to interject with a compliment for that friend, Mitch Glaser: It's funny..... now that I'm obsessed with regional development and the real estate business, I think back to Mitch's presentations to the class about Del Webb, Long, and others; or his gifts of sample community concepts for all the pretty girls (oo-la-la). This was as early as 6th grade!

But here's his post:

http://www.mitchglaser.com/journal/2008/03/john-f-long-rip.html


And my comment:

Great article about Mr. Long. Of course, he always profited from his land giveaways because he had a larger vision in mind, and those critical services played into it. Too bad the Phoenix market couldn't support that type of concept in the past.

But you know.... urban growth boundaries would help curb the hop-scotch developments that lead to forgotten communities at the core.

From what the latest AZ growth explosion has evidenced, it would also mean that city services can keep up and prevent rampant crime and slumification.

In Phoenix's case, it seems like the same old cycle:

Booming growth -> housing bust -> regional recession -> city/state/county budget crises -> decreased services -> slumification -> bottom of cycle -> economic growth period -> increased construction -> new communities -> forgotten old ones -> and the cycle starts all over.....

It goes without saying that Phoenix is far too dependent on the construction business (and related services), but seriously.... growth boundaries would be a great way to reign it in while those bigger problems are addressed.

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At the same time, I can't help but credit my favorite columnist from the AZ Repulsive, John Talton, for his wonderful entry about Long:

http://roguecolumnist.typepad.com/rogue_columnist/2008/02/john-f-long-a-b.html


This is seriously recommended reading, as is Talton's writing about the downtown Phoenix "experiment."