Long Term Vision

One of the things required to develop a master-planned community is a vision for the long term, and an ability to see the future (at least in theory). Another requirement is the ability to follow through on that vision and bring it to reality. The scale seems huge to us, but the challenges of long term planning on the larger scale of a city are even greater. Today's Republic has an article about Phoenix trying to lure high-wage jobs as they create their newest economic development plan. The explanation begins this way:

Cities and towns want to lure jobs to their communities so their residents can have shorter work commutes. They also want the highest paying jobs, because that increases residents' spending power and boosts city sales-tax revenues.

One of the ways Phoenix and other cities work to attract the companies able to deliver that is through economic-development strategies. Those plans plot the type of industry the city wants to nab and the kinds of commercial shops residents want in their neighborhoods, and addresses how to create a trained and educated workforce that would entice businesses.

Of course every city wants the high paying jobs; in Morrison Ranch, we want the high paying jobs nearby so our residents have a short commute. Landing those companies, however, requires some forethought and diligence. The article explains it this way:

Barry Broome, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, said economic success hinges on getting far ahead of development.

"The great community predicts market interest," Broome said. "By the time a project is in the market, if a city has to do the planning, they're too late."

He said that if city planners want to see corporate headquarters in their downtowns, they have to have the right environment before the opportunity lands at the city's doorstep.

Even as local government works to attract new businesses, the decisions about where to open up shop are still driven by corporate executives.

Broome said that where cities have control is in the ease of moving a business into the city. That involves the ability to deliver permits, usually in less than 90 days, having infrastructure in place for city services and using incentive programs.

"If they come, they're not going to wait for the city to do the planning," Broome said. "There is much competition for companies; you have to treat them like customers."

This reinforces what I was trying to say last week; one of the reasons we asked for a 75 foot height allowance on our industrial buildings is so that we are poised at the ready for those high paying jobs to locate in Morrison Ranch. There was an article last week about the need for "wet labs" in the Phoenix area, with the implication that if some developers would just build one, the city could snag a company in a heartbeat. To build one without a lease in place, however, would be economic suicide for that developer. The city needs to have the infrastructure and the planning in place, as well as the willingness to permit the facility in a timely manner; and then the market can follow its course and the research labs or whatever can be built. The planning and zoning process that we just completed is in Mesa, of course; but every city in the metro area has a similar goal of attractive employers setting up shop in their city.

Every city also has a planning board like the one mentioned in the article; we have the Gilbert Economic Development Board. The Mister has been on this board for several years, and their function is to advise the town council and the staff on economic development issues concerning the town. It is sort of like the businessmen and the town government collaborating on what might be best for Gilbert's economic future. It seems like it's been pretty successful so far. There's a proverb that says, "where there is no vision, the people perish." Sounds right to me.