Fairbanks: great economic potential: job growth, better pay, all part of city's plan for greater success.

• Author: Bohi, Heidi
• Position: TOWNS IN TRANSITION

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As the second largest city in Alaska and the largest in the Interior Region, with a population of 29,954--including 10,074 active-duty military and dependents at Fort Wainwright--Fairbanks struggles to dedicate resources and energy to improving and growing the city. At the same time, it strives to strengthen its role as a social, commercial, educational and economic center for the state's Interior and Northern regions. As the Interior regional center, Fairbanks is relied on by a much larger market than appears at first glance: Delta Junction, Tok Junction, Nenana and 42 Interior villages, are just some of the communities that regularly do business in Fairbanks.

WELCOMING BUSINESS

"We want to be a community that's welcoming to business and we do everything we can with limited resources to encourage people to come into Fairbanks," says Terry Strle, mayor of the City of Fairbanks. "We want to be open for business to the Interior of Alaska."

To send that message, Strle says, the city offers a very low tax burden per capita. "The City of Fairbanks has a great reputation of working with contractors and builders to help ensure projects move forward in a timely fashion. We work to streamline the permitting processes and recognize the impacts of our short building season."

One of the developments Strle wants the city to be ready for is the potential construction of the gas pipeline. Besides the direct impact to residents of the community, especially in terms of the new jobs she is banking on it will create, Strle believes the community will also benefit from the number of people the development will bring to the city and into the core downtown area.

ENVISION FAIRBANKS

Vision Fairbanks, a newly approved program being championed by the Fairbanks North Star Borough (FNSB) and the Fairbanks Downtown Association, is a community plan to revitalize downtown. Vision includes adding pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly improvements to downtown roadways, creating a public square and green space, preserving the historic character, and improving livability of the downtown. In support of this effort, she says, the city's No. 1 economic development priority is to secure funds from the Legislature to demolish the Polaris Hotel. The hotel is an abandoned property in the heart of the city that is a public safety issue, is occupying prime real estate, and is a "sore thumb" in an area in the process of being revitalized. The cost to renovate the...