Lack of urgency to reinvent economy has Phoenix trailing other cities, losing quality of life

The Valley’s economy is expected to push through the current real-estate downturn the same way it always has: growth.

At least 100,000 new residents moved in just last year, a growth rate double the national average. A 1,135 percent population growth rate since World War II has made Phoenix the nation’s fifth-largest city. But after a remarkable 60-year run, that economic engine shows signs of strain.

According to an Arizona Republic analysis of key indicators, metropolitan Phoenix has settled into a trajectory of rising costs and reduced opportunity, riding an economy singularly dependent on the ability to build and sell homes. At risk is the region’s ability to compete in the global economy, which in turn threatens the quality of life that drives growth.

Chad Graham
The Arizona Republic

Full Story: http://www.azcentral.com/specials/special00/articles/1028ind-econ1028.html

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Career, lifestyle opportunities are essential for cities looking to draw ‘knowledge workers’

Lynh Bui

If Phoenix decides to swap innovation for growth as its core economic driver, finding people with the ideas and thinking skills that lead to new discoveries will be as important as cheap land and affordable homes have been for the past 60 years. ¶ "Knowledge worker" is the term applied across industries for people who create, research, develop and invent. Knowledge economies ride on their work as ideas are turned into new products and services. ¶ Knowledge workers may be scientists, engineers, designers, architects, high-level managers, artists or business entrepreneurs. Competition for creative people in these fields is substantial. Cities that want to develop knowledge economies need to attract them with both career and lifestyle opportunities.

Full Story: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1031ind-worker1031.html

(Many thanks to http://www.NASVF.org for passing this along. Russ)