Beginning in 1993, ASU hosted three Your Town workshops. Each was modelled on the regional format developed under the program’s first concept, bringing together community leaders from across the southwestern U.S. to focus on a regionally-relevant but hypothetical case study bracketed by presentations from field leaders in planning, historic preservation and conservation, architecture, and economic development. 

On May 20-22, 1993, the first workshop was hosted in Prescott, helmed by experienced staff from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and SUNY Syracuse's College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Featured speakers included local civic leaders and ASU faculty, as well as Arizona Main Street staff and other local preservation and economic development experts. 

Almost exactly four years later, the second Prescott workshop was held on May 22-24, 1997. As the 12th workshop of the Your Town program, the activities reflected the more seasoned model, with the central National Your Town Center helping facilitate regional hubs to carry out the work. The Faculty of Planning & Landscape Architecture at Arizona State University served as the Your Town - Southwest Regional Center for Rural Design, part of the national Your Town network. Lead faculty from ASU included Frederick Steiner, Laurel McSherry, and Ignacio San Martin. The workshop drew attendees from Arizona, Texas, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, and California. 

The third Prescott workshop, hosted on October 21-23, 2000, focused on supporting the Gila River Indian Community. The keynote speaker was renowned Seattle-based architect JonPaul Jones (Cherokee/Choctaw), and the workshop centered on the Native-focused opportunities for a farmers’ market and other retail adjacent to new development along the Interstate 10 corridor. The workshop was featured in the Winter 2001 Your Town Newsletter. 

Learn more from the Prescott Workshop Notebooks from 1993, 1997, and 2000.