DVA visits Phoenix with Councilman Crear

11/05/18
Learning about Phoenix’s efforts to address homelessness
Two weeks ago, I had the privilege of joining Councilman Cedric Crear as he visited Phoenix to learn about that city’s efforts to address homelessness. As you know, Councilman Crear represents most of the Downtown area on the City Council, and he represents the Corridor of Hope, the region’s primary center for human services related to homelessness. Councilman Crear is really digging into this issue because he wants to find solutions that improve the business climate and quality of life for the residents of downtown and historic West Las Vegas.
Phoenix is about twice the size of Las Vegas, yet it has half the homeless population. This really struck me as I toured the area. How has a city of this size, with many characteristics similar to Las Vegas, managed the issue of homelessness? And what can we learn from them?
In Phoenix, we met with City officials, service providers, and the business community, and we asked them questions about how they did it. Here’s what we learned:
- More than 30 years ago, city leaders and the business community in downtown Phoenix made a commitment to build a safe, clean, and vibrant downtown area. Led by the investment of many business leaders (including Jerry Colangelo, the owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Phoenix Coyotes, and the former president of the Phoenix Suns), the business community created Downtown Phoenix, Inc., a group not unlike the DVA
- In partnership with the City of Phoenix and Maricopa County, the Business Community pooled their resources and helped to build the Phoenix Human Services Campus west of downtown. The county bought the land, the business community raised money for buildings, philanthropy helped with supportive services, and the City, using federal and local funds, helps to sustain the services.
- Today, the campus is home to more than a dozen nonprofit service organizations who help people get sheltered, treated, and moved out of homelessness. Last year, more than 2,000 people were moved out of homelessness using this strategy.
In the next few months, the DVA plans to bring some Phoenix business community members out to Las Vegas to talk about how they accomplished this feat. Stay tuned.
Announcing Successes & Insights from the Public and Private Sectors: Future of Downtown Mobility
We’re really excited for our second “Successes & Insights” event of 2018, Wednesday, November 28th sponsored by Zappos. Featured speakers will include:
- Joshua Schank, Chief Innovation Officer for the Los Angeles Metro Transportation Authority. Dr. Schank is a highly sought-after speaker on the future of mobility and is leading Los Angeles in innovative directions to ensure the continued success of their regional economy
- Debs Schrimmer, Transportation Policy Manager from Lyft. Debs is another highly sought-after speaker, and will talk about how the private sector is viewing the future of mobility in downtown areas, including what Lyft is doing right here in Las Vegas
- Tina Quigley, General Manager, RTC of Southern Nevada, the leader of our own regional transportation efforts; and
- Joanna Wadsworth, Program Manager, City of Las Vegas, the leader of the City’s Downtown Loop and Autonomous Vehicle initiatives.
Mayor Carolyn Goodman will join us for opening remarks, and there will be a reception after the event sponsored by our good friends at Zappos. Hope to see you there!
DVA Members in the News
Uri Vaknin wrote a great op-ed in the Nevada Business Press about the residential market.
The Plaza is bringing an equestrian center to downtown Las Vegas.
Downtown Project has a new name: DTP.
And Derek Stevens shares his plans for the future.
That’s all for now – hope to see you around downtown!
Mike