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Planning Issues Facing Tucson The City of Tucson region has and will continue to experience tremendous growth. Growth is occurring throughout all areas of the City. To afford and support a sustainable community, Tucson’s existing land use pattern needs to progress to one that features mixed use development, a greater variety of housing types and a range of densities, while acknowledging our unique identity and preservation of open space. This progression to a more efficient and sustainable land use pattern would maximize the utilization of our resources in providing desirable and necessary infrastructure and services to our citizens. To address the challenges and capitalize on the opportunities in each growth area, future growth should be guided and accomplished through balanced development, effective regional partnerships, implementation of cost of development strategies, and improved service delivery. This approach recognizes the existence of needs and development activity in all areas of the city. Some of the challenges requiring immediate action include: • Infrastructure investment: The cost of retrofitting existing urban development with modern infrastructure and public facilities requires an investment that places a financial strain on Tucson residents. There is a need to diversify our revenues and grow the local economy. New development needs to pay the full cost of providing infrastructure and services. Affordable housing will be an issue of concern here. • Environmental preservation: Preservation of critical habitat areas, designated growth areas, and efficient community design techniques are becoming key features of this shift in public policy. Conservation work has begun regionally with the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan. The City of Tucson will develop a habitat conservation plan to satisfy the requirements of the Endangered Species Act. • High quality development & design standards: The social and fiscal costs of our traditional growth pattern and built form are now significant issues in Tucson. If our local elected officials and design professionals can understand and articulate these lessons, the community will demand and support only the highest quality urban development. • Infill & reinvestment: Many areas of the city are ripe for redevelopment. Significant amounts of land are available for infill. Tracts of Sonoran Desert landscape are being built over even though acres of vacant land are available within the urban area. Redevelopment efforts are focused on gateway corridors into the Downtown area. |