A number of U.S. cites have begun to implement zero waste policies and practces to reduce solid waste volume and costs. Zero waste aims to eliminate the generaton of waste and toxicity at a variety of scales ranging from restaurants to cites with an emphasis on reducing unnecessary producton and divertng discarded material towards other […]
School Size: 51
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 (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 […]
Honoring Pflugerville’s History
While the discussions around the ofcial name contnue, the City of Pfugerville tasked students in two courses, Planning History and Visual Design, with researching the history of the Additon and designing a memorial park. Students deployed planning and preservaton techniques to provide optons for a more formal recogniton of the site’s history. They emphasized contributons […]
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, […]
Alternative Paths to Transit Oriented Development in Leander
TOD integrates transportation and land use in urban forms that surround transit stations. Moderate to high densities, mixed-uses, pedestrian and bicycle connectivity, and environmental access are design characteristics often associated with TOD sites. Leander’s TOD site is located at the end of Capital MetroRail’s Red Line, a 32-mile transit corridor that connects the greater Austin […]
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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 […]
Local Fiscal Model of Development Scenarios
The Local Fiscal Impact Model (LFIM), developed by Dr. Oden, was used to evaluate the fiscal impacts of three distinct development scenarios. The modeled scenarios were linked to the Envision Tomorrow planning software, also used in the Sustainable Land Use Planning course. Student analysis and reports will enable the City of Leander to better determine […]