In 1993, the Arizona-Mexico Commission and its sister organization, the Comisión Sonora-Arizona, initiated a binational strategic economic planning process to analyze how the two neighboring states could increase their regional competitiveness in the world economy and enhance the overall quality of life for their residents. One of the recommendations of the Strategic Economic Development Vision was to develop a set of indicators as a tool to monitor progress toward the goals of binational economic development. The purpose of the Regional Economic Indicators is to help policy and decision-makers understand and monitor economic changes in the Arizona-Sonora region and to support policies that promote economic transformation, investment and entrepreneurship in the region.

In 1996, ASU’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy began asking residents and leaders in Greater Phoenix, “What does quality of life mean to you, and how do you measure it?” After an 18-month process, the first volume of What Matters was published in September 1997, creating a baseline of opinion and data about “quality of life” and what it means to the people who live here. The report was quickly recognized both within the region and nationally among indicator projects for its simple, yet unique presentation of public perception (survey) data and regional statistical, or indicator, data.