It’s not often the City of Apache Junction is accused of having a more beautiful mind and a more steely spine than the Town of Paradise Valley.  Yet, at least on one issue recently, it has and does. Readers may recall Paradise Valley’s aborted attempt to transition to a single-hauler trash system not too long ago. It considered so for … Read More

By Recker McDowell — Health care and medical research are front and center with the Coronavirus and its impact on public health, stock markets, consumer confidence and travel. Biomedical research is also critical the region’s economic growth and projected jobs gains. Economic developers, city planners, elected officials and the private sector need to make sure the region continues to welcome … Read More

By Recker McDowell WeTravel Inc.— a San Francisco-based fintech startup — is landing 150 jobs at new offices at the Scottsdale Quarter. The B2B travel oriented financial tech firm picked Scottsdale over sites in Nashville, Austin, Salt Lake City, Denver and other cities, according to the Business Journal. Why the investment and jobs landed in Scottsdale are important as the … Read More

By Recker McDowell — Scottsdale Airport is an important economic, jobs and tourism driver for the city. It also is a prime example of how Scottsdale (and other cities) can balance growth and development with existing economic assets. Scottsdale Airport had a $688 million economic benefit for Scottsdale. The general aviation airport and adjacent Scottsdale Airpark account for 3,979 jobs. … Read More

By Recker McDowell It is very easy to cast skeptics and opponents of real estate developments and economic development projects as cranky neighbors or stubborn, stuck in the mud ‘no growthers’ resistant to new ideas, innovation and change. And some are just that. Whether it’s the growth debate going on in Scottsdale or economic development projects in rural parts of … Read More

By Recker McDowell Arizona is projected to add 159,000 new jobs over the next two years. That comes after the state has added 350,000 new private sector jobs since 2015. Most of Arizona’s job gains happen in metro Phoenix with its large labor pool and friendly business climate and costs, especially compared to cities in California and the Pacific Northwest. … Read More

By Recker McDowell Development, density and how Scottsdale grows are the front and center issues in the race for Mayor and three City Council seats. Candidates will line up and be cast as pro-growth, slow growth and no growth. That will be the politics of the Scottsdale races for three council seats and to succeed Mayor Jim Lane, who is … Read More

After being defeated in the Republican primary for a State House seat in 2014, former Scottsdale City Councilman Bob Littlefield decided to run for Scottsdale Mayor in 2016. He lost to Mayor Jim Lane in a landslide. Yet, only two years later, Bob’s wife Kathy didn’t just win re-election to the City Council but was the race’s top vote-getter. There … Read More

By Recker McDowell — Scottsdale is the top place to move in the U.S., according to a new report. Scottsdale had 108 percent more inbound moves than outbound moves in 2019, according to U.S. Census Bureau research compiled by HireAHelper.com. That is the most of any city in the country. Durham, North Carolina was second with 71.7 percent more inbound … Read More