In Defense of Mayor Borowsky: Much Ado About Nothing

By Ronald Sampson This year’s iteration of the Scottsdale City Council has been a surprisingly contentious one, sometimes seemingly needlessly so, but new Mayor Lisa Borowsky has generally stayed above the fray. She has taken diplomatic approaches to a few sticky situations and has generally led with grace and decorum. However, she has recently found herself in the crosshairs of … Read More

ASM versus Optima: Where Economic Growth Battles Quality of Life

We all want economic growth, and Arizona (and Scottsdale, more specifically) has been on fire in that regard recently. This has been optimized by the massive recent announcement by semiconductor-adjacent giant ASM, which recently announced an absolutely mammoth expansion in Scottsdale (you can learn more about it here). But as with anything mammoth, there will be winners and there will … Read More

Hades on an Ice Rink: Is the Council of No Learning to Say Yes?

I know that on occasion that I can be a broken record about the need for more development, that building more will alleviate our pressing housing crisis and benefit so many. We have also been somewhat dismayed at the Scottsdale City Council’s recent inclination to get in the way of good developments moving forward; we coined the term “the Council … Read More