Around the nation, municipalities take different approaches to maintaining sufficient revenue levels to support their residents and improve their city’s quality of life. Today, however, many cities are facing a similar challenge of diminished sales tax revenues due to increased and untaxed online shopping, also known as the “Amazon effect.” In Arizona, municipalities are also […]
Program: Project Cities
Positively Apache Junction (3/4)
The City of Apache Junction is located in south central Arizona, in the shadow of the Superstition Mountains. With its rich history on the silver screen and a plethora of natural and cultural attractions, Apache Junction has significant potential for tourism. Already, the city’s population of roughly 40,000 doubles to nearly 80,000 each winter due […]
Land Use Planning
Apache Junction is a young city, incorporated in 1978. It is still in the process of forming its identity and long-term growth strategy. At the same time, the city is figuring out how to stimulate its economy and improve the quality of life of its residents. Landscape architecture can help with this, as it connects […]
Positively Apache Junction (4/4)
The City of Apache Junction is located in south central Arizona, in the shadow of the Superstition Mountains. With its rich history on the silver screen and a plethora of natural and cultural attractions, Apache Junction has significant potential for tourism. Already, the city’s population of roughly 40,000 doubles to nearly 80,000 each winter […]
Transitioning Mobile Home Parks
Mobile housing represents 63% of the City of Apache Junction’s housing stock. At a time when available housing assistance and subsidies do not meet demand, these units represent a valuable source of unsubsidized housing stock for Apache Junction (the City) and the United States as a whole. While their affordability is an asset, the City […]
Planning a Sustainable Future
According to the national nonprofit organization STAR Communities, a sustainable city has a healthy environment and a strong economy and cultivates well-being for its residents. STAR Communities, which stands for “Sustainability Tools for Assessing and Rating Communities,” is a data-driven system created by local governments to enable them to assess their efforts, track progress, and […]
Positively Apache Junction (1/2)
User Experience, a course about improving online experiences of internet users, evaluated the visitor page of Apache Junction’s website (ajcity.net) for issues and recommendations for improvement. Students determined that its visitor page is difficult to navigate, and lacking in relevant information. Because of these challenges, users may be driven away from the website and, as […]
Positively Apache Junction (1/2)
Tourism Planning focused on the overall picture of tourism,from its present state to its promise, in Apache Junction. The students in this course evaluated Apache Junction’s strengths, weaknesses,opportunities, and threats based on community engagement and literature-based research. Results included that its outdoor attractions(Superstition Mountains, Canyon Lake, Lost Dutchman State Park) and nearby events (Renaissance Festival, […]
Off Leash Dog Park
The students in this course dedicated their independent master’s degree capstone reports to Apache Junction’s aspiration for an off-leash dog park. Each pursued their own angles on this topic, such as the potential of local public-private partnerships for funding, or which features are most important to the success of a park. Based on their research […]
Understanding Homelessness
Students in this course looked to peer communities around the country for best practices for addressing homelessness. To choose the communities, they searched for those with characteristics like climate, population, and unemployment rate that were similar to those of Apache Junction, as well as communities making promising strides, which they then vetted with Apache Junction […]