Environment

Description: Downtown Phoenix should be the model for sustainability… a Model City or an Emerald City.  Green building should be the norm, not the exception.  Smart water usage.  Fight the downtown heat island.  Solar rooftops — everywhere.

Top Three Challenges

1. Who sets the design standard? ~ We liked the idea of using the Desert Botanical Garden standard for downtown landscaping.
2. How to pay for making downtown a Model/Emerald City?
3. Mandates versus incentives… (and the political will/leadership connected to each).

Possible Solutions

• Create funding partnerships that work for the public and private sector “reality” in the City of Phoenix.
• Downtown Voices Coalition should lead the discussion about sustainability for downtown Phoenix.

Go to Historic Preservation >>

Note: Environment was a new, stand-alone downtown Phoenix issue identified in 2010.  There were no notes taken in 2004 under this specific issue category, although discussions about arts and culture and transportation discussed the topic of environment in various contexts.