Dialogue on Development - Design with the Desert: Conservation and Sustainable Development - page 343

meaningful impact on planning projects if they bring their voices to the planning table at
the appropriate time in a respectful manner.
Citizen involvement can provide valuable input to city planners by helping to identify
areas of concern for development projects or proposals. Professionals working with the
public use several techniques to engage their interests including surveys, public meet-
ings, open houses, workshops, and neighborhood gatherings. Public participation events
are designed to garner feedback from the public on proposed actions by the city, state,
or federal agency. This is where you the citizen can provide direct and specific com-
ment on a proposed action or project. A well-coordinated effort by concerned citizens
can influence the outcome of the proposed project and alter the plan to reflect the stated
concerns of the public. However, this input must be provided at the appropriate stage of
the planning process. For instance, your opposition to a site development plan will not
be taken seriously if you did not provide your feedback when the site selection and plan
was under review.
19.3.3 Race to the Bottom
Cities are deeply concerned about having a viable economic base. One of the principal
means of gaining revenue is through sales tax revenue and jobs through the location of
commercial and industrial operations. There is often a fierce competition between cities
to lure companies to locate their business within their municipality. The company has the
upper hand by having independent power to make their own decision on where to locate
their business. Cities jockey for influence with the company by offering incentives from
free land, infrastructure, sales tax rebates to exemption from planning and zoning laws.
Development incentives for corporations are part of the toolbox that municipalities use
to create a sustainable economic base for the community. It would be a step in the right
direction if a city did not have to “give away the store” to save the store and instead compete
on the merits of its community location and amenities, not its bank account. However, the
stakes are too high for cities not to provide these types of incentives to sway development
in their direction and too lucrative for the developer not to seek the most favorable deal
proposed by several cities at the same time. There is no easy answer to solve this race to
the bottom in this quest for cities to obtain business partners that potentially will become
the economic base of a community.
19.3.4 We Are Not L.A., Really?
Over time, Los Angeles (L.A.), California, has been the poster child for what is undesirable
in an urban form. The impacts of a low-density form of urban development, high
population growth, and a transportation system geared towards the automobile creates
strains on urban life from diminished air quality, traffic congestion and stagnation, and
sprawling urban development reduces the quality of life for area residents. Many point
to L.A. as what not to do as a model for urban development; however, several Southwest
cities are repeating the same pattern, creating a smaller version of the same problems
posed by low-density sprawling development. There is a light at the end of this tunnel. As
southwestern cities grapple with their own development patterns, there is a growing trend
towards efforts to develop or redevelop the neglected urban core. The question is—can the
voices of the community speak loud enough to demand a viable alternative to this form of
urban development?