Community Futures Demonstration Project

Tucson Empowerment Zone

Advisory Groups

Overviews

North Area
Central Area
South Area
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Community Futures Demonstration Project Information

Summary

The University of Arizona College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (CALA) established the Community Outreach Partnership Planning & Design Center to carry out the Community Futures Demonstration Project in Housing Design. The goal of this Project is to use the resources of the University and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development to facilitate the development of innovative new housing and housing rehabilitation in the Tucson Empowerment Zone (EZ). This is done through the following:

Clarifying housing needs and market in the EZ;
Analyzing and documenting the capacity of the area;
Involving neighborhoods and incorporating neighborhood goals in housing plans and strategies;
Researching and making available the most current innovative technologies to improve the quality, affordability, and accessibility of housing;
Developing innovative housing designs that incorporate these technologies;
Disseminating this information through symposia, workshops, conferences, exhibits, and publications;
Facilitating implementation of these concepts into hou sing production in the EZ and the region in general; and modifying the College instructional curricula to incorporate the housing issues identified through this grant.

The Project target area is the Tucson Empowerment Zone (EZ). This is an area of approximately 16 square miles encompassing approximately 15,000 households and 50,000 people. Sixty percent of the EZ population is Hispanic. Almost 30 percent of families and more than 34 percent of individuals in the EZ live below the poverty level. The EZ includes a variety of aging and historic neighborhoods confronting issues of decline, redevelopment, and gentrification. It includes two HOPE VI projects, a third HOPE VI proposal, the City of South Tucson (a designated “Colonia”), and downtown Tucson, which is part of the Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District, a Tax-Increment Financing district established for downtown revitalization. There are 29 recognized neighborhoods in the EZ that will be included in the Project.