The Chandler Airpark area encompasses nine square miles surrounding the Chandler Municipal Airport. The area plan provides the City of Chandler with a document that will strategically guide future development in and around the existing airport. The two major goals of this plan are the protection of the Municipal Airport from residential encroachment and the aggressive economic development of the Airpark area.

The City of Chandler developed the South Arizona Avenue Entry Corridor Study in 2006, setting forth a vision for the development of the corridor between Dr. A.J. Chandler Park and the new SanTan Freeway, ¾ mile to the south. Between downtown and the freeway is the corridor that the City intends to see redeveloped, with mixed residential and commercial uses to create a dynamic new “front door” for Chandler. The purpose of these design guidelines is to guide zoning requests within the South Arizona Avenue Corridor to achieve the objectives of the Chandler General Plan. The overall goal of these objectives is to implement the vision for South Arizona Avenue. The guidelines address the major design aspects of new office, retail and residential buildings in the corridor. Design Guidelines are not building or streetscape designs; they provide design direction so that each project’s architectural design will reinforce the City’s strategic intentions as this important area of the city responds to its new role as Chandler’s “front door.” These guidelines also identify streetscape design principles for South Arizona Avenue with the objective of coordinating public and private design in the Corridor.

Economic development leaders and public officials throughout the country are tending to the effects of a sour economy and huge state budget deficits when they would rather be creating quality jobs and new economy assets. According to the most prominent thinking on today’s knowledge economy, locally developed and exported technology will be the primary economic differentiator between future winners and losers. Thus, with long-term fiscal and economic health at stake, the 50-state race is on for advantages and leadership in science and technology. This report sheds light on these issues through an overview of Arizona’s standing in science and technology today, short case studies of four competitors in the west, as well as Arizona, and ideas for Arizona’s leaders to consider as they strive to give our state an edge.