Revitalizing Downtown Tucson: Celebrations and Challenges with Crystal Moore

In this latest episode of Life Along the Streetcar, host Tom Heath engages in a lively discussion with Crystal Moore, the new President and CEO of the Downtown Tucson Partnership (DTP). With over 20 years of experience in real estate and urban development, Crystal shares her journey, her reflections on downtown’s evolution, and her ambitious plans for the future. Whether you’re a Tucson resident, business owner, or visitor, this conversation offers a rich exploration of what makes downtown Tucson a vibrant and resilient urban center.

Challenges and Achievements: A Journey of Resilience

Over the years, downtown Tucson has transformed dramatically, overcoming significant challenges while achieving remarkable milestones. Reflecting on her two decades of experience, Crystal Moore described the ups and downs: “There’ve been some really high moments and some really deep valleys, but it’s the best that I’ve seen it.”

Crystal highlighted the significant shift from a once predominantly commercial district to a more residentially focused area. The challenges of office vacancies, exacerbated by the 2008 recession and further intensified during COVID-19, have led to creative solutions. For example, the redevelopment of spaces like the Chase Bank Building into residential units has not only addressed vacancy issues but also contributed to a growing residential community.

The addition of over 700 housing units between 2019 and 2020 has been pivotal in creating a more balanced and dynamic downtown. Crystal emphasized, “What I like seeing in the equalization of rates is that now the employees who are working downtown can live downtown. For a few years, we priced ourselves out of the market, especially in the service industry.”

This adaptability showcases the resilience of downtown Tucson and its capacity to evolve to meet the needs of its community.

Community Engagement and Holiday Festivities: Bringing Tucson Together

Downtown Tucson thrives on the energy and engagement of its community. At the heart of this is the Downtown Tucson Partnership’s clean and safe initiatives, supported by their dedicated team of ambassadors. Crystal shared how the organization has ramped up efforts: “When I started, we had 13 staff members. We’ve since hired seven more, and downtown hasn’t been this clean in a long time.”

These efforts have a tangible impact on visitors’ experiences, as Crystal noted: “It’s the minor details, like watering the 384 planters and being the first on the scene during safety issues, that create a major impact. Our team’s work influences how people feel when they visit downtown.”

The holiday season is a time of particular excitement. Events like Desert Nights Downtown Lights and Small Business Saturday not only bring festive cheer but also encourage community participation. “As of yesterday, we have 60 retailers participating in Small Business Saturday,” Crystal noted enthusiastically, highlighting the support for local businesses. Upcoming plans for a tree-lighting ceremony and a “snap it, tag it, share it” social media contest around Tucson’s Christmas tree add further vibrancy to the season.

A Vision for Downtown Tucson: Looking to the Future

Crystal’s vision for downtown Tucson is ambitious yet grounded in the community’s needs. Among her most innovative ideas is the potential transformation of Congress Street into a pedestrian-friendly zone during pilot weekends. “When Links opens in 2025, I’d love to run some pilot weekends where Congress becomes pedestrian-friendly. Guests won’t have to worry about speeding traffic as they shop and explore,” she shared.

This vision aligns with her goal to foster stronger bonds among downtown merchants and retailers. By expanding events like Small Business Saturday to occur more frequently, Crystal hopes to create more opportunities for community connection.

Crystal also highlighted the importance of leveraging Tucson’s unique identity to attract both residents and visitors. “It’s about creating an environment where people want to live, work, and play,” she explained, emphasizing the balance between residential and commercial growth.

Get Involved in Tucson’s Downtown Renaissance

Downtown Tucson is a place of transformation, celebration, and resilience, as showcased by Crystal Moore’s leadership and vision. From addressing challenges to creating vibrant community spaces and envisioning a bold future, this episode of Life Along the Streetcar dives deep into what makes downtown thrive.

If you’re inspired by what you’ve heard, consider joining the conversation! Contact Tom Heath for more information about downtown Tucson, its events, or how you can be part of this dynamic community.

Stay connected by following Life Along the Streetcar for future episodes and updates, and don’t miss the opportunity to experience downtown Tucson’s vibrancy firsthand. Together, let’s celebrate and shape the future of our urban core.

Tom Heath
Good morning. It’s a beautiful Sunday in the Old Pueblo. And you’re listening to Katy. Tucson. Thank you for spending part of your brunch hour with us on your downtown Tucson. A community sponsored, all volunteer powered, a rock and roll radio station. This week we speak with Crystal Moore, a seasoned real estate professional with over two decades of experience in downtown and is in a new role as the president and CEO of the Downtown Tucson Partnership.

Tom Heath
She’s going to bring a wealth of knowledge and a deep commitment to the community. She’s got experience and a vision. We’re going to talk to her in just a few minutes. Today is November 24th, 2024. My name is Tommy, and you’re listening to Life Along the Streetcar. Each and every Sunday, our focus is on social, cultural and economic impacts in Tucson’s urban core, and we shed light on hidden gems everyone should know about.

Tom Heath
From around the University of Arizona and all stops in between. You get the inside track right here on 99.1 FM streaming a downtown radio talk. Also available on your iPhone or Android using our very own Downtown Radio Tucson app. And if you want to interact with us on the show, we recommend you do that through our social media, which is Facebook and Instagram.

Tom Heath
Those are the the two that we’ve got out there. And if you want information on us, our book, past episodes or just simply to contact us, you can head to our website, which is a life along the street car.org. And of course, we encourage you to listen to this podcast. If you happen to miss the radio show or want to hear it again, listen to the podcast on all kinds of platforms where you hear your favorite podcasts being played like Spotify, iHeart radio, iTunes, and sometimes simply by asking your smart speaker to play our podcast.

Tom Heath
Well, yesterday we had some bicyclists in the downtown area. And every year I try to preempt it. And I kind of forgot last week, because it’s the L tour to Tucson week. But just want to remind you, I know there might have been some frustrations because of traffic closures and such. And just a little bit harder to navigate.

Tom Heath
But this or it’s not just riding bikes. It’s. It’s much more than that. It’s a it’s a huge draw to Tucson. And there’s a lot of money raised for different charities and foundations through the efforts of Perimeter cycling and the, the Dow, the, the l Tour to Tucson. So I hope you had some patience yesterday. And if you want to know more about it, I invite you to go over to our website.

Tom Heath
Lifelong Street car.org. Kind of plug in, put an L tour to Tucson in the in the search bar there and get some information about what it does in our community, because it is more than than just a bike ride. And I know it is frustrating, irritating. And I live downtown, so I’m like, I’m like hostage for a few hours.

Tom Heath
But you know, when you see the impact on the community, I personally think it’s worth it. And speaking of downtown, we have a new president and CEO of the Downtown Tucson, a partnership. Her name is Crystal Moore. She is no stranger to downtown Tucson. She’s not coming from a different part of the country. She’s actually been spending the last two decades in the downtown area, mainly in property management.

Tom Heath
But she’s also been, serving on boards and committees. She’s been on the the chair for the last two years of the Downtown Tucson Partnership Board, and now takes on the role of a CEO and president brand new. So we wanted to sit down with her and some breaking news. You know, I think we’re the first to interview her.

Tom Heath
She, said, you know what? I don’t have too much time on the job, but I’d be glad to talk to you about the vision. And I said absolutely. So we wanted to get her sense of background, her vision of where she see things going, and just an overall state of of how we’re doing here in downtown Tucson.

Tom Heath
This is an interview we recorded about a week ago with Crystal Moore. And today this is kind of like breaking news. Like I don’t always get breaking news. Normally I’m like down the line and when things come out, but I think I might be the first to interview, downtown Tucson Partnership’s newest, CEO president. Crystal to you.

Crystal Moore
Right.

Tom Heath
I, I’m very first. I’m very excited. And you’ve been on the job now for how long?

Crystal Moore
About 18 hours.

Tom Heath
Nice, nice.

Crystal Moore
I took the interim role on September 19th and about a week ago, I accepted the permanent position.

Tom Heath
So you went in as an interim, and they’re like, oh, yeah. She’s not going anywhere. We’re we’re keeping her.

Crystal Moore
Actually, I didn’t realize how much fun I was going to have. I thought, you know, I would just hold the strings together until we found that permanent replacement. And then I just started having a lot of fun and recognized I could do some good and got energized by that. And here we are. Here I am.

Tom Heath
Well, and from what I understand, you’re fairly new to Tucson. Is that correct?

Crystal Moore
My first involvement with downtown Tucson was in 2001, when I went to work for Buzz Isaacson Realty. As an office commercial broker. Okay, I office at the Pioneer Building from 2001 to 2007.

Tom Heath
As downtown changed at all in the 23 years that you’ve been a part of it.

Crystal Moore
There’s been some really high moments and some really deep valleys, but it’s the best that I’ve seen it. So even pre-COVID, like.

Tom Heath
In 2001, though. Like what? What were you working in downtown? That was just the headquarter. Like, were you selling office space?

Crystal Moore
I would say probably 45 to 50% of our portfolio was downtown. Okay. So we did have a lot of movement. But nothing after hours. It was like at 5:00, everyone garages got in their cars and left.

Tom Heath
You know, I moved here in, 93, and I remember it was probably before 2001, but we went to a progressive dinner that was a fundraiser. And there was when the grill was still here. Caruso’s and and, not Caruso’s, but, the place across from the police station.

Crystal Moore
Oh, yeah. The toughest place. Yeah.

Tom Heath
But anyway, we’ll think about it. Yeah. You know, we did this walking tour and got the history, and I was like, oh my gosh, I just love this and everything else. And and so many people on the tour were like, yeah, we just we don’t ever come down here at night. Yeah. And that was 2000. That was probably before 2001.

Tom Heath
I think it’s the late 90s. But that’s changed.

Crystal Moore
And I honestly, I wasn’t staying downtown then either. Right.

Tom Heath
So I mean, in my car.

Crystal Moore
I was getting up too. But then there was a shift, probably in 2011 aligning with, streetcar. When did that happened?

Tom Heath
Well, I think we got announced around 2011 and then launched a few years later. But I think as soon as it was announced, you started seeing developers and, another sort of planning for. Yeah, for its arrival.

Crystal Moore
So in 2011, we started planning one East Broadway, that went under development. And I was living in Savannah on the far east southeast side, moved to Mercato so I could be closer to the construction site of one west, one East Broadway. We developed one East Broadway, and then, Michael Keefe moved into the apartment that I would eventually move into when he left.

Crystal Moore
But I moved into one East Broadway in 2016.

Tom Heath
So this is very interesting. So, you know, you followed Michael.

Crystal Moore
You you’re gonna put that line.

Tom Heath
Yeah. So you followed him to his apartment, right. And then at some point, he was in charge of the downtown to some partnership, and now you’re you’re just kind of following him into that role.

Crystal Moore
Thanks, Michael.

Tom Heath
For a little bit of a little bit of gab since he’s been gone. But he’s in Chicago now, I think. So.

Crystal Moore
Are you really?

Tom Heath
I know I was a house here, but I think he spends a lot of time in Chicago.

Crystal Moore
Interesting. You know, my son’s name is Wrigley, so we are big Chicago fan. Okay, but I have no intention, really.

Tom Heath
I hope not. You just got a job.

Crystal Moore
I got this great opportunity here.

Tom Heath
So with with your experience in downtown, I mean, you’ve been in business, in residential development, in business development, you’ve seen commercial, you’ve seen residential. Where’s the biggest shift been? Has it been in more commercial? More residential.

Crystal Moore
For sure. More residential. You know, we had an exit of office users many years ago, and we have not seen that back.

Tom Heath
Up before Covid or.

Crystal Moore
Before Covid. Okay. We saw some recovery after the recession in 2008. But the absorption rate was still very slow compared to other markets in Tucson. But then Covid happened and we I think all the multistory buildings downtown had some extraordinary vacancy. But the redevelopment of two East, with taking three floors to from office to residential has been helpful.

Crystal Moore
It took that vacancy off the market for the commercial side, the most buildings downtown. Now that haven’t been completely redeveloped. The pioneer is under redevelopment now right. Our stabilized, I don’t see big commercial companies coming back into downtown anytime soon.

Tom Heath
But, two centers downtown.

Crystal Moore
I think downtown’s in general, but I do see their employees living downtown. Okay. Which should drive maybe a pivot of reconsideration.

Tom Heath
Okay. And from from a slow, slight step back here to the first development was to East Congress or one East Congress, right.

Crystal Moore
That was in in the portfolio that I’m in.

Tom Heath
Well, I’m thinking about like the residential construction.

Crystal Moore
So, so of all downtown, in 2011, when the streetcar was announced, the Chase Bank building to East Congress had a very small parking lot to the south of the building. And we were informed that there was going to be a building moratorium, construction moratorium, once the streetcar line went in. So if we were going to develop that lot, we should do it quickly.

Crystal Moore
So the owners developed it quickly. They didn’t know what they were doing. They’ll be the first to tell you we had no idea what the Tucson market was going to serve because it it hadn’t been done before. So, they developed the seven story building, which is multi-use with parking office and residential and the success of that building has driven the gallery moniker Rendezvous Flynn.

Crystal Moore
None of those projects were on the books until we proved that Tucson would support this type of vertical living instead of,

Tom Heath
Urban sprawl and vertical living and I mean, price per square foot was higher than a lot of places in Tucson.

Crystal Moore
Yeah. And now, because there’s so much more supply on the market downtown, the the pricing is adjusting a little bit. But because the supply was low and demand was high, certainly rates went up. Yeah.

Tom Heath
I remember talking to people when they first learning about some of the housing in downtown and going through what some of the, those apartments were renting for. And they were completely shocked that, like, no one will ever go in there. I’m like, well, they have hundred percent occupancy rate.

Crystal Moore
So it’s a mortgage, literally. You know, those rental rates are mortgages. Know.

Tom Heath
And it is coming down because there are lot I mean there I think in 2019 or 2020 there was like a 7 or 800 units added in that two year loan.

Crystal Moore
Correct. So the supply is great. Now there’s going to be an equalization of of of rates.

Tom Heath
Okay. Well that’s that’s good news for it’s good news a lot of people and and you know as you’re saying some of the like the Chase building, converting the tourist building, converting some of that office to residential, creating even more, more space.

Crystal Moore
Correct. And then what I like seeing in the equalization of rates is that now the employees who are working downtown can live downtown, for a few years, we rated ourselves out of the market. You know, there’s that this especially in the service industry, they just couldn’t afford to live and work in the same place. So I like seeing that.

Tom Heath
That’s Crystal Moore, the, new CEO, president of the Downtown Tucson Partnership, talking about her 20 years of experience in downtown, mainly in residential and commercial real estate development and management. And as we get into the second half of the show, we’ll talk more about her vision and plans and some upcoming things with the downtown Tucson, a partnership, the TPI.

Tom Heath
My name is Tom Heath. You’re listening to life on a streetcar on Downtown Radio 99.1 FM, and we’re streaming on Downtown radio.org.

James Portis
This podcast is sponsored by Tom Heath and the Heath team and Home Loans. If you’ve enjoyed this podcast, continue listening or head over to life on the Street. Khou.com for current events and information on what to do while visiting Tucson. Tom Heath and MLS number 182420 Nova and MLS number 3087 became number 0902429. Equal Housing Opportunity.

Tom Heath
All right. That was paleo Dave. Shop now through the Tucson Gallery you can catch Paleo Dave every weekday from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on downtown radios 99.1 FM morning drive. Amazing that he does this as a volunteer. Put so much time and energy into it. And, we’re going to finish up our interview with Crystal Moore.

Tom Heath
Speaking of time and energy and what she’s putting into it, as well as the new president CEO of Downtown Tucson Partnership, we had, some backstory of hers, and now we’re going to move into, let’s talk a little bit more about the partnership directions. Kind of the focus that she’s putting on to this, role and, even an upcoming event or two.

Tom Heath
Oh, now, fast forward a little bit and, this opportunity comes along with the, the, downtown Tucson partnership. They need an interim to get us to the, complete president and CEO and the, you know, you step into that role to to help out and.

Crystal Moore
Begrudgingly, begrudgingly.

Tom Heath
And then now, grudgingly, as is grudgingly, the right word. I mean.

Crystal Moore
How about enthusiastic.

Tom Heath
Enthusiastically moving forward? With that? And we’ve talked about the DTB multiple times in the show, but just a brief overview of what the organization does. Sure.

Crystal Moore
We are, you know, we offer clean and safe ambassadors throughout downtown and, it be done. Honestly, I didn’t know the extent of what the organization does until the last 4 or 5 weeks. And it’s it’s exciting to be involved on such a ground level that really impacts the user or the guests experience on how they how they feel when they leave downtown.

Crystal Moore
And I think that’s important.

Tom Heath
Yeah. So, we’ve, affectionately refer to them as the purple shirts.

Crystal Moore
Yes.

Tom Heath
I’m not sure if they affectionately receive that, but.

Crystal Moore
I think we all chuckle at this point.

Tom Heath
But if you’re in downtown, you will see the safety ambassadors in the, in the, the cleaning team. And I will say over the years, it’s gotten to the point where it I mean, it’s it’s not just a handful of people. It’s a full like, you have a large staff.

Crystal Moore
Sure. When I started a few weeks ago, we had 13. We were down several, positions, and I’ve hired seven since I started. So we’re up to 20 and downtown hasn’t been clean as clean as it currently is in a long time. And that’s because we have a daily strategy on how we effectively maintain the district. And, I think that was done a few years ago.

Crystal Moore
And then there was a gap, a time that the focus was really along Congress and and we’s, re-energized the team to have a broader vision and, and really support all of our property owners who actively participate in, paying for us.

Tom Heath
And being downtown. And I work, live and play downtown, I get to see a little bit more, I think, than maybe the casual observer. And of course, I was on the board for a while and participated in, in a lot of different, exercises about the development of downtown. But the, the detail of the work that they do, it’s it’s it’s sometimes I think it goes unnoticed.

Tom Heath
It’s not just. Okay, we have someone out sweeping. You actually have a street sweeper. You have people that have a, a, an entire cart developed for a watering the plants. Then, you know, they go through and do all these, really sort of minor details that overall have a major.

Crystal Moore
Impact, major impact. And it goes from those minor details, like you were saying, to watering the 384 planters that we have around downtown, to being the first to arrive when there’s a, safety issue and, and waiting for the authorities to arrive and, and maybe maintaining calm during that storm. Our guys are well trained. They’re well respected on the streets, from our vendors, our merchants, our retailers and our guests.

Crystal Moore
And and as long as we maintain that respectability, I think we’ll be successful.

Tom Heath
Knowing you too far into the details of it, but they’ve they’ve been instrumental and in safety and health. They’ve they’ve saved lives. They’ve put people into recently.

Crystal Moore
Yeah. So, yeah, we’ve, our, overnight team saved a life, a week ago. And, yesterday we were involved in a similar incident and, maintained, calm environment as we waited for Tucson fire to arrive and not everyone can do that. And then and then walk away and go pick up trash. Yeah, right. So it’s it’s really all encompassing.

Tom Heath
It’s know a lot of the staff, but at least the 13 of the 13, I don’t know about the new seven. A lot of the staff have been there for a while.

Crystal Moore
A long time. And actually, of the seven that we we hired 2 or 3 hires. So 15 collectively and probably the average time is probably 4 or 5 years.

Tom Heath
So, you know, you see recognizable faces and and they, they seem to enjoy it. And if they’re just good at putting on a front, but they seem to enjoy it.

Crystal Moore
I think they, have pride in their, their work and, see the benefit of, you know, their actions downtown impacting other people’s days and, and their visit to downtown and all of those things are important.

Tom Heath
Well, and on some upcoming news, because they we’re coming into the holiday season and, you know, the trees are wrapped and there’s lighting and, and, there going to be a tree lighting ceremony kind of uppers that.

Crystal Moore
Desert nights with downtown lights. Our illumination program is coming up in the next week, and then we have, the tree lighting. I don’t know the date for that. And we have small business units.

Tom Heath
There’s 384 planters. You know that. We don’t know when the when the tree is getting lit. But what about our website?

Crystal Moore
Yes, I can give that to you. And then of course, second set, Small Business Saturdays, which is a really big event. We’re really glad to participate. As of yesterday, we have 60 retailers, participating. So, come down to downtown.

Tom Heath
And there are 50 retailers in downtown.

Crystal Moore
Yeah, really? 50 merchants have, have submitted their participation. Fantastic, wonderful.

Tom Heath
And I understand, if you’re listening to this interview on your or maybe you’re watching it and you’re thinking, man, I, I need to meet Crystal. I need to meet the this new star. Okay. You’re going to be part of a small community, right?

Crystal Moore
I’m going to be there. I’ll be, cruising around. You can find me with a DJ in front of proper shops at.

Tom Heath
300 East Congress.

Crystal Moore
300 East Congress, which.

Tom Heath
You know, I know a little bit about that spot.

Crystal Moore
Yeah. You know a lot more about downtown than I do.

Tom Heath
That is 100%. I didn’t even know the 394 planners. And they tell you that much.

Crystal Moore
Okay.

Tom Heath
I knew they were. At least I’m one up. I think they’re at least eight. Yeah. Fairly new in the role. Kind of hard to to project out long term, but, you know, over the next few months to you, what do you have any specific goals you’re able to share with us, or do you have some thoughts as to where we’re going, or is it just really still gathering all the data.

Crystal Moore
Still gathering the data? We have a couple really great ideas that we’re going to run by the merchants and retailers to kind of bond them together a little bit and have larger activities. That includes all, very similar actually, to Small Business Saturday, to Small Business Saturday have to only be once a year. Or can we do it more frequently?

Crystal Moore
Another big, big thing for me is diverting some of that traffic downtown to links. So links will open in 2025.

Tom Heath
Links being the bypasses your insurance, the aviation highway that goes around downtown and connects to the freeways.

Crystal Moore
And and when that happens, I hope to run a couple pilot weekends where we if we get the support from the merchants and retailers, we can make Congress pedestrian and friendly row and, really open it up. And, and, our guests won’t have to worry about the speeding traffic. Is there, going in and out of shops and and supporting our local merchants.

Tom Heath
And I want to say what I think with DTP in Tucson police, because I have a shop right there at three inches Congress. We’ve definitely seen a decrease in that activity in general. Like there, you know, there’s there definitely seems to be a larger presence. And people are are being more respectful of that.

Crystal Moore
Yes. And and that’s I mean, that started when you were board chair of DTP that that conversation started. So that’s.

Tom Heath
Yeah, I’m good at talking. You’re good at getting things dicey. That’s that’s the difference. I talked about it. You got the movement. You made it. You made it happen. Thanks, Crystal I, I am excited. I’ve gotten to know you quite well over the last few years, and I’m excited about where you where you can take this organization with your foundation and your knowledge of Tucson.

Tom Heath
And, and I know I speak for many people when I say that the level of respect that you have immediately going in because of what you’ve already done for the last 23 plus years in downtown, that, that sort of however goodwill and capital I think is going to be really, really helpful and make you really successful.

Crystal Moore
Thanks, Tom. I’ve been flying under the radar for the last 20 years.

Tom Heath
Not now.

Crystal Moore
Any more time, you know, pushed to push me out onto that catapulted boom.

Tom Heath
You’re, you’re on a podcast.

Crystal Moore
Catch the best podcast in Tucson.

Tom Heath
Absolutely. You’re finding.

Crystal Moore
It right.

Tom Heath
Here. Both of my listeners agree with you. Thank you. Chris, I appreciate your time.

Crystal Moore
Okay. That’s it. Yeah. How do we do?

Tom Heath
I got applause from James for us in the background for Crystal Moore. In her first interview as president and CEO of the Downtown Tucson Partnership. Yes. Breaking news. You heard it right here on Downtown Radio and, on the podcast lifelong the streetcar. Thanks for, supporting us in that. We talked about the tree lighting. Well, that was on Friday the 23rd, so timing of that didn’t quite work out for the show, but, did want to mention, in conjunction with that tree lighting that there is a contest happening, with that so you can go over to the downtown tucson.org website and there’s a whole bunch of holiday information over there, including the

Tom Heath
Tucson Christmas tree. And they’ve got a, snag it, tag it, share it. Where if you take a photo of Tucson’s Christmas tree and use the hashtag Tucson Christmas Tree in your caption and tag at downtown Tucson and you post on Instagram, you could win one of, two $100 Tucson gift cards for downtown. So that’s going to be open now through, January 2nd.

Tom Heath
My name is Tom Heath. You’re listening to Life Along the Streetcar Downtown Radio at 99.1 FM and streaming on downtown radio.org.

James Portis
Support for downtown radio is provided by the Tucson Gallery, located in downtown Tucson. Instead of the proper shops at Buried East Conduit Street, the Tucson Gallery offers original work, reproductions, and merchandise from Tucson artists like Joe Pejic, Jessica Gonzalez, Ignacio Garcia, and many more. For information about other artists, including when they will be live at the Gallery, head to the Tucson gallery.com or find them on Instagram and Facebook as Tucson Gallery.

Tom Heath
Well, don’t go anywhere because we know Ted presents key words and work is coming up in just a couple of minutes here as he interviews writers and others from the labor movement. And then Ty Logan at the top of the hour. V-Ray with speaker box brings us back to the music at one, and then we are playing all kinds of music for the next, the next week or so here with, shows kicking off again on, next Sunday.

Tom Heath
Downtown radio.org has that schedule. There’s also a donate button if you’re into the season. Want to talk about, helping out a local community? We’re a volunteer run station, so the money you put into the coffers goes towards your experience keeping us on the air and making it, an even better listening. Opportunity for you.

Tom Heath
So I hope you, support us in that regard as well. We want to thank Crystal Moore. She mentioned a few things. And a lot of those details are on the downtown tucson.org website. The big one, for me personally, is this this small business Saturday, couple weeks ago, we did an event with, actually, last week, we did events in the courtyard of the proper Shops for the Tucson Gallery.

Tom Heath
Had a really good turnout. Was really pleasantly surprised for our first year that, so many people showed up and and supported in our small business Saturday coming up, this this, this Thursday. And remember, just mention it, but the, tag it, snap it, tag it, share it. Tucson Christmas tree. Contest on Instagram.

Tom Heath
Details again on the downtown to support our website, as well as, other festivities that are happening throughout the area. And we’ll talk more. There’s things happening all over the urban core Mercado fourth Avenue, main gate, plenty of things to do this holiday season. And I understand Santa, may be out and about a couple of those locations as well, so you can check those out.

Tom Heath
Well, as we wrap up here today, I always want to make sure we thank the people that make this happen. It’s James Portis, he is our production specialist. Our newest member of the team is Amanda Maltose. She is the production assistant. Our intern from the U of A. My name is Tom Heath. I am your host and your producer, and, you know that every week our music comes courtesy of Ryan Hood.

Tom Heath
They do a really good holiday album as well. Christmas album? I wonder if they don’t, they got to be doing a Christmas show. Get some details on that. But they let us use, Dillinger Days to start off each of the show. And in honor of the clean and safe team, which Crystal Moore leads of the Downtown Tucson partnership, we’re going to leave you with, music from a Dog Land and Snoop Dogg.

Tom Heath
It’s from a 2023, and it’s called the Clean Up song. I hope you have a great week and tune in next Sunday for more life along the street car.