Tucson SPORT - September 2007 - (Page 55) the business of sport INSIDE ARIZONA LIFE ZONE celebrate Revitalizing Downtown TUCSON Steve Lynn The Tucson Downtown Alliance has reincorporated itself as the Downtown Tucson Partnership, an expanded public-private effort to oversee development downtown. On air interview with special guests: Vice President of Tucson Electric Power Dana: What factors prompted the formation of the Downtown Tucson Partnership? Steve: Several of us had been looking at the efforts to redevelop downtown over the years and determined that in most successful cities where downtowns have been turned around there has been a private-public partnership group that has taken the lead to focus the efforts in the downtown and make them real. That was the piece that was missing in Tucson. There were several groups that had stood up and said that we want to be involved but none of those groups had the kind of broad cross-section that involved both downtown interests and broad community interests in order to make this happen. That’s what the new partnership does. Dana: What will the new partnership be able to do that the individual groups have not been able to accomplish? Steve: It remains to be seen how effective the group can be but certainly by design and by structure it is put into place to be the kind of organization that can provide a single focal point for downtown redevelopment on the private side. So we will compliment that which the city is doing. We will also bring the county into the fold. Dana: In March, Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities unveiled its economic blueprint and one of the key components is downtown revitalization. How closely tied is the Downtown Tucson Partnership and the TREO plan? Steve: Extremely close. As the blueprint noted, a vital downtown is really the soul of the region. Not just Tucson but the region itself. The kinds of things that the blueprint spoke to are the very things that we are going to have high on our agenda. Dana: What does downtown Tucson need to do and need to have to attract the young creative class, highly-skilled, highly-educated workers who are socially sophisticated? Steve: If you look at the cities that have been successful in down- town redevelopment, not only do they have the kinds of attractions that will bring that group of people into the downtown periodically, they also provide the kind of neighborhood atmosphere where many people will want to live. It’s crucially important that downtown become a neighborhood, 24-hours a day. That’s when we know that downtown has become a successful place, not just to work, but to live and that’s when you know you’re making progress. INSIDE ARIZONA BUSINESS WITH DANA COOPER CAN BE SEEN EVERY SUNDAY MORNING AT :00 ON kVOA-4. w w w.tu cso n s p o r t. n et | T U CSO NS P O RTM AGA Z I N E 55 http://www.insidearizonabusiness.com/the_show.asp?ID=22 http://www.tucsonsport.net
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