Carol Poore, the President and CEO of the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS, wrote an op-ed in The Arizona Republic about how networks are important to downtown Phoenix’s success. Her op-ed is the summary of her recently completed Ph.D. dissertation and we at the DVC send our congratulations to her.
As temperatures rise and the Phoenix mayoral race heats up, understanding each candidate’s vision for continued revitalization of our downtown core is essential.
Why? In the words of urbanist Jane Jacobs, downtowns serve as the heart of any city, providing an ecosystem, a place to gather, a place of density and efficiency for both large and small venues that, altogether, create a region’s distinct sense of place, momentum and economic prosperity.
Research I’ve conducted suggests that a lively downtown requires social capital – vital networks needed to sustain collective action, identify opportunities and put in place solutions.
In past decades, two network-building organizations – Phoenix Community Alliance and Downtown Phoenix Partnership – fused people and ideas together, jumpstarting at least nine pivotal downtown projects that otherwise would not have been launched, including Arizona Center in 1988, Human Services Campus in 2005 and Downtown Phoenix Public Market in 2009.
Read more here. Congratulations, Dr. Poore!
Downtown Voices Coalition 