Regular readers are well aware of the water crisis that’s been unfolding in the Rio Verde Foothills on the outskirts of Scottsdale; if you have not kept up you can get up-to-date here. Now that the water cut-off deadline has come and gone the situation has gotten ever more tense in the unincorporated municipality, with the desperation of the citizenry … Read More
The Scottsdale State of the City Address: What Can We Glean From Mayor Ortega?
Any political observer is well accustomed to State of the Union addresses from presidents, and many observers are also aware of State of the State addresses from governors. But we also recently had a State of the City address from Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega, and since it is the first such address since the most recent city council elections, this … Read More
The Giving Back Fund Announces J.J. Watt to Co-Host Big Game Big Give Saturday, February 11th, 2023 at Private Paradise Valley Estate
The Renowned, Star-Studded Party Will Honor NBA Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo and Feature Special Performance by Singer-Songwriter Gavin DeGraw, and Additional Announcements Coming in the Next Few Weeks The Giving Back Fund is proud to announce recently retired NFL Star J.J. Watt, the man considered to be one of the greatest defensive linemen of all time and the 2017 … Read More
Guest Editorial: City Council 2023 Kicks Off
By Councilwoman Solange Whitehead
Scottsdale City Council Swearing-In Remarks: What We Learned
The Scottsdale City Council held its inauguration and swearing-in event last week, with two members (Kathy Littlefield and Solange Whitehead) being re-elected to a second term and one (Barry Graham) being new to the council dais. Each of the members was given an opportunity to speak, and as such gave an opportunity to peer in and speculate as to how … Read More
Laws Only Matter with Enforcement: STRs are Skirting the Rules in Scottsdale
The fight for reasonable regulation of short-term rentals (STRs) has seemed to ebb and flow. First the state squashed local control, and then after serious backlash they relented some. While cities and towns started to implement regulations, the Arizona League of Cities and Towns seemed to side with the STR industry (you can follow the entire back and forth here). … Read More
Thank You 2022!
We wanted to take a moment to give our thanks to you, our readers, and let you know just how productive of a year it was for our growth. Last year nearly 82,000 people visited arizonaprogressgazette.com with views topping 269,000. Over 1,526 hours were cumulatively spent reading our content and unlike some sites that puff up their numbers with cheap … Read More
The Winds of Change: Regulation is Now in Fashion in Scottsdale
My ohhh my, what a change only a handful of years can make. It wasn’t too long ago that a Jim Lane-led Scottsdale embraced development and growth. It would seem that the pendulum has swung and swung hard in the other direction. In a 6-1 vote, the Scottsdale city council recently voted to adopt a series of international green building … Read More
Guest Editorial: New Beginnings 2023
By Councilwoman Betty Janik The new year brings with it a sense of renewal and a belief that we will continue to improve as individuals and as members of a community. The City of Scottsdale is no exception. Building on regulations passed in 2022, we will strive to implement these new rules in 2023. Near the end of last year, … Read More
The Countdown is Over in the Rio Verde Foothills: Cooler Heads Didn’t Prevail
The potential consequences of water security in a high growth area that also happens to be in a desert have been looming over the valley for quite some time, and Ground Zero for that looming crisis has been the Rio Verde Foothills on the outskirts of Scottsdale. We have written about this crisis previously, and while the question was up … Read More