ASU In Payson

This past week Arizona State University made an announcement regarding plans to build a college in Payson. While this is an important step, area locals, particularly potential sellers, should be aware of how different the coverage of this was in Payson and Phoenix.

The Payson Roundup’s headline on Friday September 24 was: ASU, Payson sign agreement for college here. This was front page news in Payson, and the article stated that an official announcement was forthcoming by ASU. The Arizona Republic had a much different slant. Their article on Tuesday September 28 had the headline of: Arizona State University, Payson to consider college site. While it briefly made the front page of their website, it was not at the top. Local news stations did not lead the 5 and 6 o’clock telecasts with the story as people like myself had hoped. In other words, it wasn’t all that big of news for Phoenix. The wording in the story was even softer. “ASU and Payson officials are announcing today that they have signed an agreement to analyze and consider locating a college in the Rim Country town.” That’s not exactly the sounds of a done deal.

It is also worth noting, that even if you view things more positively than the above, there are still some major hurdles. All along there has been a quiet murmur that state funding could jeopardize ASU coming here. Unfortunately, there are still state budget problems. When the legislature reconvenes in January, they will likely face a fiscal 2012 budget deficit north of $500 million. It will likely be a Republican legislature and Republican governor and traditionally in Arizona this group has not exactly shown passion for funding education. The guess here is that Payson officials will once again have to do some scrambling to hold this deal together.

There is also the federal dynamic. A key part of this plan is getting the federal government to move quickly with the forest service land that would be used for the campus. While I think the forest service is genuinely dedicated to making this a quick process, they are not going to be the ones with the final say. Unfortunately all it would take is a congressman from another state who wants to bring some pork home to his people, to jerk around with such a deal, thus delaying things.

This is not to say that I think a campus won’t happen. I believe it will. There’s still a chance it won’t be ASU and I think a more realistic time frame is fall of 2014 or fall of 2015. I still believe that Rim Country is going in a very positive direction. We are making strides on a number of fronts and we are still in some of the most scenic country in the world. But I don’t think we’re going to get a significant recovery boost from the college over the next year or two. Long term I think we are still a good investment and it makes sense for those who want to be here long term, to buy now. There are always going to be factors on all sides that make it difficult to judge when the “bottom” is, but we have had a significant enough drop already where even if there is more to go, I don’t think it will be catastrophic. At least I certainly hope so. 

Rim Country is home to a variety of wonders including Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, the Highline Trail, numerous great hiking trails and fishing spots, and too many other things to list here.