The Economic Development Advisory Group for the Town of Carefree spent a second session-size block of time debating market-positioning for the town center, touching on strategies to attract higher-spending visitors, the role of events, and how to use municipal property and incentives to reshape retail and public spaces.

Staff framed the discussion around the question of what the town should "want to be when we grow up" and recommended a structured process to identify the mix of tenants, events and design attributes the town should pursue. "You can use things that you control to leverage the things that you want to get," Steve, a town staff member, told the group, describing how municipal land, programs and targeted incentives can guide private investment.

Speakers voiced competing priorities. Several members said a large-scale development at the Northeast Corner could create a significant revenue stream that would underwrite infrastructure and relieve pressure on Easy Street. One participant summarized that view: "If North East Corner generates the kind of revenue that we expect, we will have a cushion and we will have plenty of money for the foreseeable future to meet all of our needs," the participant said.

Others urged the town to preserve and amplify what they see as Carefree's unique assets'the Sundial, the Cactus Garden and the walkable character of Easy Street'and to scale events to the town's capacity. Several speakers warned that very large weekend events can overwhelm parking and local venues and urged smaller, repeatable experiences. Speakers discussed realistic event capacity (restaurants and performance venues serving hundreds rather than thousands at one time) and suggested programming that changes throughout the season to draw repeat visits instead of a single large spike in traffic.

The group discussed technical approaches to developing a strategy. Staff reported they have about $20,000 in the budget for market/positioning work and said an initial Urban Land Institute (ULI)-style advisory panel could be about $10,000. Members suggested several lower-cost or locally focused alternatives: hiring architecture or real-estate students (ASU and graduate programs were mentioned) for design studies; using interns to run focused stakeholder interviews and to assemble straw-man scenarios; or commissioning a concise market-analysis and four contrasting vision options for public review.

Participants emphasized that the town must be explicit about trade-offs: targeting high-end visitors and supporting restaurants and performance venues will change parking, traffic and the visitor mix; preserving the town's quieter character could limit revenue opportunities but protect resident quality of life. Several members suggested the public outreach should present illustrated options (straw-man visions) rather than open-ended questions.

Ending: The advisory group asked staff to return with a narrower scope and timeline that could include targeted listening sessions, contact with ASU or local universities for student projects, and a proposal for a short ULI-style advisory engagement or intern-led analysis. Members asked for four distinct straw-man visions to take into public listening sessions.