Local leaders discuss affordability in Tucson, Pima County

For Tucson residents struggling to keep up with rent, child care, groceries, gas and medical bills, local leaders are weighing a broad affordability strategy that combines new jobs, housing construction, shelter expansion and federal support. The conversation came as officials described prices as being at historic highs and acknowledged that many families are facing several financial emergencies at once, rather than a single setback.

Pima County supervisors discussed revisions to the region’s economic development plan Tuesday, Sept. 8. The plan will guide the county’s priorities for the next three years and emphasizes job growth in seven sectors, including manufacturing and tourism. District 2 Supervisor Matt Heinz said officials are reviewing what has worked over the past three years, which industries have expanded, where jobs were created and what future projections show. The list of priority industries could be revised or expanded as conditions change.

Heinz said the county wants to build enough momentum in advanced manufacturing to create a concentration of employers similar to the existing defense and aerospace sector. Those industries, he said, offer well-paying jobs that are less likely to disappear. The broader goal is to use economic development to improve household stability, rather than treating affordability as separate from business recruitment and job creation.

Tucson Mayor Regina Romero also discussed the city and county’s Prosperity Initiative, created in 2023 to address poverty and improve economic mobility. The effort focuses on affordable housing, education, child care, workforce training and assistance for small businesses. Romero said 1,200 affordable housing units have been built or entered the planning process during the past three years. She also said the poverty rate fell from 24% to 18%, though poverty remains unusually high in Southern Arizona and many residents still struggle to pay rent, fill their vehicles and buy food.

Vice Mayor Lane Santa Cruz said the joint initiative grew out of the COVID-19 pandemic’s disproportionate effect on the region’s most vulnerable families. Its purpose, she said, was to create a framework in which reducing poverty and increasing economic mobility were central economic development goals, rather than issues addressed only after other priorities. City leaders also endorsed a new economic agenda from Unidos US, the Hispanic civil rights organization that hosted a Tucson roundtable on affordability and issues affecting Latino voters.

Claudia Jasso, president and CEO of the local nonprofit Amistades, said the financial pressure facing families has become more widespread and intense. In the past, she said, a household might have dealt with one major problem, such as a rent increase, a lost work shift or an unexpected medical bill. Now, families are arriving for assistance while dealing with all of those pressures simultaneously. A separate analysis from the Common Sense Institute found that the annual cost of basic necessities in Arizona rose by $4,000 more than the national average between 2019 and 2025.

U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva said she is especially concerned that proposed federal reductions to social programs could compound the effects of rising prices. She pointed to the Trump administration’s proposed $3.4 billion cut to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development budget for the next fiscal year, saying that local affordable housing programs could be significantly affected. Grijalva argued that federal funding should support programs that are effective at the local level. She cited the cost of child care in Southern Arizona, saying one family may have to spend $15,000 a year on it.

Grijalva said she believes health care, public education and housing should be treated as basic rights. Unidos US polling found that, with two months remaining before the November midterm elections, Arizona’s Latino voters ranked high prices as their top concern, followed by wages and health care. Grijalva is seeking her first full term representing Arizona’s 7th Congressional District after winning a special election last summer. She faces Republican Daniel Butierez in the heavily Democratic district.

Housing affordability also intersects with the shortage of emergency shelter in Tucson. The city is seeking public input on zoning changes intended to make it easier to establish homeless shelters. Tucson’s City Council declared a housing and homelessness emergency in February for one year, allowing the Planning and Development Services Department to adjust some zoning and permitting rules that officials say can delay emergency shelter construction.

The city needs roughly 1,500 additional shelter beds, according to the Tucson Pima Collaboration to End Homelessness. The emergency declaration says the unhoused population grew 53% from 2021 through 2024 without a significant decline. Proposed zoning changes could alter parking requirements, minimum setbacks from property lines, occupancy limits and the required distance between shelters. Planning officials are collecting community feedback before moving forward. The city scheduled one in-person session and one virtual meeting during the month, along with an exhibit at Park Place Mall during the first weekend of October. Residents can find meeting and RSVP information through the Planning and Development Services website or send comments to Amanda.Smith@tucsonaz.gov.