Greetings!

Hello and thank you for taking a moment to read a special edition of the Imagine Greater Tucson newsletter.  In case you are unaware, March marked the conclusion of Phase 1 (the "Talk" phase) and the beginning of Phase 2 ("Think") of the IGT Process.  

 

This transition was celebrated on April 7^th at the Marriott University Park at an event titled the Big Reveal; so called because it was the first public reveal of Our Shared Regional Values and the Trend Scenario.  Over 400 people attended the Big Reveal, and the response to the event has been overwhelmingly encouraging and positive.  Thank you to everyone who came out to support IGT and to those  helping to build momentum for a stronger region (for more information about the Big Reveal you can read the following articles from the Arizona Daily Star and Inside Tucson Business).

The Big Reveal. Photo courtesy of Balfour Walker.

Please sign up to follow us on Facebook for frequent updates and to join in the discussion; also visit our website to view Phase 1 results, get more information about upcoming events, and to learn more about the overall process.  Don't forget to register for a Scenario Building Workshop, if you haven't done so already. Seats are filling up so please RSVP soon.

Shared Regional Values 

 

In a period spanning roughly 6 months; from October 2010 to March 2011, Imagine Greater Tucson held 51 Community Conversations, conducted over 2,500 open surveys, and 600 random sample surveys resulting in the development

of 61 Shared Regional Values organized into 9 topic areas.

These values include such things as "our strong sense

of community and a relaxed, friendly, small town feel,"
and "accessibility to nature and outdoor recreational opportunities for everyone," to mention only two.    

 

What has been truly remarkable in generating the values is the strength of connection people feel to this community and to those things that are unique to it, and how much we have in common in spite of our diversity of backgrounds and perspectives.  

 

To ensure that the sentiments expressed by the community are communicated and reflected in all our actions, we will continue to share Phase 1 community quotes throughout the rest of this process.  Ultimately, these will serve as the guide posts to make certain that we are on the path to building a future that aligns with our own expectations of what this region can and should be.

 

 

Community Liaison Council members testing the Scenario Building Workshop materials, 4/21

 

In addition to giving the first look at the Shared Regional Values, IGT also unveiled the Trend Scenario.  The scenario projects that the region will add roughly 1 million more people in the coming decades.  The implications of this growth are startling and present real challenges to realizing a future that aligns with our values.  Continuing on our current path will make achieving that future even more unlikely.  If trends persist, we will be spending more time sitting in our cars, our air quality will suffer, we will have less access to open space, and we will put further strains on our already limited natural and fiscal resources.  

 

To take the first steps in altering this course, we ask that you join us in May at a Scenario Building Workshop and help to build a future we can all value.  We also ask that you encourage your friends, neighbors, and co-workers to attend as well.  The future presented in the Trend Scenario is far from inevitable, but we must take action today to make sure that we can have the best of all possible futures.  Why settle for anything less?

 

As many of you may know, April was National Volunteer Appreciation Month, and we would be remiss if we did not take a moment to extend a very sincere thank you to every member of this community who has contributed their time, expertise, creativity, and energy to this process.  To date, more than 100 volunteers have given well over 2000 hours of their time to IGT; doing everything from processing data, contributing to a working group, and operating the IGT booth to facilitating Community Conversations and acting as IGT ambassadors. As a community-based effort, the success of this process is dependent on the support and involvement of the great volunteers we have in here in Southern Arizona.   We are so grateful for everything all of you are doing.  Thank you!

If you are interested in being involved with IGT, we have a number of upcoming opportunities.  Please attend an orientation to find out more or contact Amy Bhola at volunteer@imaginegreatertucson.org.   

 

We are also currently looking for volunteer table facilitators for the May Scenario Building Workshops, if you are interested in facilitating a table, contact Patrick Hartley at patrick@imaginegreatertucson.org for more information.  We look forward to hearing from you and working together in the future.

We here at IGT have been laboring and straining our brains to come up with an appropriate and memorable title for our newsletter.  To date, this labor and strain has come to naught.  It is time that we turn this over to you Southern Arizona and ask for your input.  We'd love to hear your suggestions for a new title for the newsletter (somehow "newsletter" just doesn't seem to be an adequate title).

 

Since we, as a region, value our creativity, we're sure that you'll be able to come up with something good!

  

Share your ideas on Facebook, or with us via email at

igt@imaginegreatertucson.org.  Just be sure to include "Name the Newsletter" in the subject line.  We'll have the results next month.  We can't wait to hear your ideas.

 

 

As part of our ongoing commitment to base all of our future work on the foundaton of our Shared Regional Values, we will take an opportunity each month to highlight one of those values in this newsletter.  This month, we're looking at our local and small businesses. 

  

WE VALUE...

  

WHAT WE'RE SAYING...

  

WHAT CAN WE DO?

Please make an effort to patronize and support local and small businesses.  While this seems like an obvious answer to the question, the impacts are profound. According to a study conducted by Civic Economics, 73% of money spent in the local economy stays in the local economy (as opposed to 43% spent at national chains). To put this in perspective Local First Arizona estimates that shifting 10% of spending away from national chains and internet shopping to local businesses would create 1,600 local jobs and add $53 million in wages (for a region of 770,000). Not only that, but local and small businesses contribute in a major way to our unique character, identity, neighborhoods and sense of place (another Shared Regional Value).

  

If you have further suggestions about how we can take action to support our local and small businesses, please
share your ideas on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/IGTucon.