Chandler initiates $190K ‘young families’ marketing campaign

By Jason W. Brooks
Mail | X: @JasonWBrooks2

The average age of Chandler residents is increasing — faster that some city and school district officials would like.

Chandler’s City Council approving an intergovernmental agreement Sept. 18 intended to help minimize or reverse that trend.

Council approved a contract with the Chandler, Kyrene, Mesa and Tempe Union school districts, whom it convinced to help pay for what the city calls the Young Families and Young Professionals Community Attraction Campaign.

Each of those district’s governing boards voted to hand over $10,000 for the marketing campaign, which is intended to help attract young families and young professionals to live within Chandler’s city limits.

The city will use grant funds from the Chandler Industrial Development Authority to cover a $150,000 portion of the cost of the campaign.

A staff report states demographic concerns related to the city of Chandler were presented to the Council during a study session presentation in August 2024, along with a discussion that took place during council’s one-day retreat in late April. The Chandler Unified Governing Board has also received multiple presentations in the past few years from a demographer, analyzing several drivers behind plummeting public school enrollment in the East Valley.

Chandler Economic Development director Micah Miranda and his division will lead communication with marketing, though he said dialogue with the four school districts about strategy will be ongoing.

The Chandler Unified school board member who abstained in voting to approve CUSD’s $10,000 contribution to the marketing, Ryan Heap, said he feels high costs of housing and interest rates are main factors in school enrollment dropping, and the campaign isn’t intended to address those factors.

Chandler Vice Mayor Christine Ellis asked Miranda if the city is looking at how to overcome the challenge of housing costs in getting couples with one income or two small incomes to live in the city.

Miranda said that challenge is one of the elements to be addressed in assembling the campaign.

“However, when we look at our peer communities in the region, Chandler might not always be the most expensive location for those families,” Miranda said. “Some of our surrounding communities are actually more expensive destinations. Young families are choosing to go there. We want to understand why they’re making those decisions, as part of this campaign.”

Miranda listed several real estate metrics in which he said Chandler is at or near at least the rest of the Southeast Valley, if not the entire Valley. He also said Chandler’s age and real estate situation is partly dictated by the city having developed and brought in a tech workforce earlier in the ‘90s and 2000s than other Valley communities, which are still growing quickly.

Chandler grew almost exponentially for about 30 years before the COVID-19 pandemic, when real estate, near-buildout of land and the constraints of construction financing slowed the growth of the city considerably.

A staff report states that an aging population and low birth rate are factors not unique to Chandler, but do pose significant challenges for the city and schools.

“At a city level, slower growth and an aging population could affect future labor force availability, consumer spending, service expectations and the sustainability of municipal revenue streams,” the report states.

Miranda said the campaign is expected to be stretched out over at least a couple of years, so aside from direct feedback on marketing, there won’t be many quick ways to evaluate the campaign to know if it’s working.

Jason W. Brooks can be reached at jbrooks@iniusa.org.  Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our  Civility Guidelines.

Jason W. Brooks
News Editor | Chandler Independent

Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.

Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.

Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.

Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.

Community: He supports animal shelters.