04 April 2019

Who's Listening? Who's SPEAKING UP > Speak Now To Help Secure Land & Financing For Affordable Housing

That's what missing here in Mesa where all we see on the drawing boards is Sprawl and more Sprawl, especially almost everywhere: to the east, to the north, to the northeast and especially to the southeast. Growing fast but is it smart? . . . and I don't mean that Mesa Smart City Re-Branding campaign.
You can see what direction officials inside City Hall want to do at today's City Council Study Session for the measures and presentations made for the Proposed FY2019/2020 and FY2020/2024 Budgets.
Take a look at the list of target areas for Capital Improvement Projects (CIP).
Who benefits?
Indirectly - and at some time maybe in the future - there could be some "public benefits" in the long-term.
In the very near term, Mesa taxpayers are financing and will be asked to finance more millions of dollars in 20-year or 30-year bond debt obligations that pave the way for more sprawl.
Hikes in utility rates for water and electricity, garbage collection and recycling, increases in transaction privilege taxes will finance infrastructure that can be tapped into by real estate speculators to build-out more sprawl.

Other cities are doing this:
We’ve collected hundreds of petition signatures, and rallied for more affordable housing – as a result of our collective efforts, $15 million was committed in the City's 2019 Budget to build new affordable housing!
But will it be near rapid transit stations?
Here are the next steps required to ensure it is:
A report is going to FEDCO (Finance and Economic Development Committee) on Tuesday, April 2nd about possibly committing 20 parcels of government-owned land near rapid transit stations for affordable housing.
Please e-mail your elected officials today and let them know you want all 20 of these sites approved and reserved for affordable housing!
OTTAWA, Canada > https://www.healthytransportation.ca
About Us
We are a grassroots movement of concerned citizens, organizations and businesses working together to increase healthy transportation policies and necessary infrastructure investments in the National Capital Region.
OBJECTIVES:
• Achieve a truly healthy transportation network in the National Capital Region, from the perspectives of personal and societal health, the environment, and economics;
• Increase physical activity, improve the built environment, decrease pedestrian and cyclist injuries;
• Help ensure vulnerable populations, and ultimately all residents, are well-served by an accessible transportation network;
• Help people have better access to their communities, local businesses, social support services, and green spaces by their preferred mode of healthy transportation; and
• Help ensure that greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector fall.

Lighting Then VS Now: Fire Before Electricity

3 main sources of light