Skip to main content

The Future of OZones Here in Phx East Valley > Let's Sprawl Some More!

That's THE QUESTION in my inbox in an email blast sent by Smart Growth Action Content on December 13, 2018.
First of all - and it certainly looks like it's a foregone fact-of-life here in Mesa:
Mesa Sprawls!
Here is a 32-year time lapse of urban sprawl in Mesa.
Published on Dec 14, 2016, so far the streaming upload has only received 41 views! HEY!!
________________________________________________________________________________
Here in Mesa it's definitely a Tale of Two Zones located in The Outer Loops that don't exactly fit the established criteria to get pre-designated as 'low-income communities' - in affluent Northeast Mesa and affluent Southeast Mesa. 
Hold onto that thought for a moment to see what a new OZone report has to say after meticulously ranking and assessing 7800+ Opportunity Zones by their smart growth potential and current social equity to identify which ones are positioned to bring positive social, environmental, and economic returns 
Sprawl or smart growth: the future of Opportunity Zones
Guiding Equitable Investments
Smart Growth America

Which Opportunity Zones have the most smart growth potential?

The newly created Opportunity Zones program will likely go down as the largest and most significant federal community development initiative in U.S. history, with trillions of dollars in new private investment about to start flowing into pre-designated low-income communities around the country.
The BIGGEST QUESTION TODAY IS THIS: will these investments benefit the people living in these communities now, or will they be displaced as new interest and development brings increased property values and rents? And what kind of development will this incentive bring? Unsustainable, car-dependent sprawl (the dominant growth paradigm in the United States today) or walkable, mixed-use communities with a variety of housing options for everyone?

Popular posts from this blog

City Council Meeting - 5/19/2025

Chief of War — Official Teaser | Apple TV+

World Defense News

Flash News: Ukraine Intercepts Russian Kh-59 Cruise Missile Using US VAMPIRE Air Defense System Mounted on Boat. Ukrainian forces have made a major breakthrough in their air defense strategy, successfully intercepting and destroying a Russian Kh-59 cruise missile over the Black Sea with the newly deployed U.S. L3Harris VAMPIRE Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) system mounted on a high-speed boat.  This marks the first operational use of the VAMPIRE SAM system to intercept a cruise missile, representing a significant leap forward in Ukraine's capability to counter advanced airborne threats.  The achievement was reported on January 25, 2025, via the X account of Clash Report.  Read News Russia - Ukraine War at this link ... Ukrainian forces fire with the US-supplied VAMPIRE SAM system from a high-speed boat, successfully intercepting a Russian Kh-59 cruise missile over the Black Sea in response to an airstrike threat. Screenshot from the video published on the Clash Report X acc...