Where does Scottsdale go from here?

You may have read the article written by the talented John Graber in which he talked with me about Scottsdale’s sustainability plan. I pull no punches when I say that I am not happy with how the plan has been coming along. A lack of investment, initiative, and a sense of urgency is not being shown.

Phoenix announced that it will restrict new developments based on ground water projections. The American Lung Association has reported that “84% of people in Arizona live in communities that received ‘F’ grades for their air quality, with Maricopa and Pinal counties among the most polluted. Everyone in Arizona deserves to breathe clean air.”

Our school systems have continued to decline in students due to the lack of affordable housing for young families.

It is no secret we live in a desert and sometimes I think because of the “Scottsdale lifestyle” we may forget it because we are lucky to live in Scottsdale. It doesn’t change that we live in a desert, and we have used the limited resources unwisely and the resources that are plenty unwisely. We do not need to revisit our water situation as we all know about it at this point, and I imagine that some of the climate change skeptics aren’t skeptics anymore. What we can discuss is the resource we have ignored. The sun.

The sun shines in Scottsdale over 330 days a year and we do not take advantage of it. Shouldn’t we be the ones who lead the way for the use of solar. Shouldn’t we have invested in solar energy a long time ago? Every home, every building should be running off solar energy. Clean energy.

We should be living a Frank Lloyd Wright lifestyle where we developed our city working with nature instead of against it. Instead, we plant trees that aren’t native to the environment, develop without regards to what and how we are building, and put sustainability last. Scottsdale should have been leading the way when it comes to how a city is built for the future today.

The politics, fear mongering, and the notion that Scottsdale will lose its identity must stop. Change is inevitable and we can create positive change and keep Scottsdale’s heritage while forging a new identity that works for all generations. Scottsdale must once again lead us into a sustainable, technological, and innovative future for us all.

It is too late for small changes, and it is too late for politics as usual. We still have the ability, the technology, and the creativity to take the giant steps needed to reverse the damage that has been done. Scottsdale has always been a leader and we must continue to lead the rest of Arizona by creating the unique, desert, and sustainable lifestyle that proves we are still one of the best cities in the world to live.