The bright side of the decade from hell
Chris Coppola, the editor of the East Valley tribune, tries to limn it in a commentary today. He acknowledges the wars and economic troubles that have marked the past ten years, but makes this case:
[…] I’m not convinced the ’00s were all bad for us locally. The progress made in developing our freeway system and introducing light rail in the East Valley, along with ongoing improvements at Gateway and Falcon Field airports in Mesa, and Chandler’s municipal airport, will pay major dividends for this region down the road. History has proven that an efficient transportation system is a major key for any area’s economic health.
We’ve also seen an explosion of new hospitals and medical facilities and expansion of higher educational facilities — all the types of things that add to quality of life and prove attractive to new industries looking to set up shop with varied, and well-paying, jobs.
He goes through each town in his subscription area and notes the steps each has taken to position itself for the future.
My only complaint: In such a Republican area, in reviewing the crises of the decade he could have noted the failures of that party, both philosophically (in how, for example, its distaste for regulation helped create the housing and financial mess) and politically (an utterly failed president, a dismaying 2008 presidential candidate).
Don’t get me wrong: If anything, PHXated despises Democrats even more than Republicans. And I’m rooting for both Coppola and the paper. But it doesn’t help anyone not to utter some simple truths.
The future of the EVT, incidentally, remains in doubt, Heat City reports:
Earlier this month, a spokesman for the Mesa newspaper’s parent, Freedom Communications, said Dec. 24 would likely be the day the company would tell a federal bankruptcy court about the deal it hopes to strike with a Colorado businessman wanting to buy the Tribune.
But late Thursday, after nothing had been filed with the court, company spokeswoman Maya Pogoda said attorneys “have not finalized the agreement” with hopeful buyer Randy Miller.
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Study: Phoenix is the nation's 59th most literate city
The PBJ has a story about a study out of an institution called Central Connecticut State University. The study, which has been done since 2003, compiles a handful of reading and academic metrics to assign literate rankings:
The report scored 75 cities of 250,000 people or more against indicators, including education level, Internet use, newspaper circulation, number of booksellers, library services and local publications. Topping the list was Seattle, followed by Washington, D.C. and Minneapolis. Pittsburgh and Atlanta rounded out the top five.
Phoenix came in a dispiriting 59th. Tucson came in 45th.
The study was done by John Miller, the president of the university, who began it when he was a chancellor of a school in Wisconsin. You can read the study and look at the various rankings here.
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