Do we matter? That is, does Tucson matter? We don’t mean just Tucson, the city; we mean Tucson the region. Census data has finally confirmed metropolitan Tucson now has a population of more than 1 million. But relative to what else is going on, we’re losing. Consider these:

• The Arizona Corporation Commission, where certain types of businesses are supposed to file their legal paperwork, has decided Tucson isn’t valuable enough in the scheme of the current economy to keep an office open here.

• Other offices in the State Building, at 400 W. Congress St., are likely to be closed over the next several months as part of more budget cutting. More will go to Phoenix in the state of Maricopa.

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• The northwestward growth into Marana and Pinal County is hastening a merger of Tucson with Phoenix. The soon-to-open Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain resort notes on its website that it’s only 1 hour 20 minutes away from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. It doesn’t even prominently mention the distance from Tucson International Airport, but directions on a Google map put the travel time at 53 minutes. Considering the difficulty in getting non-stop flights to Tucson that half-hour’s difference is easily made up not wasting time making an airport connection somewhere.

• When leaders of the state’s major businesses and industries talk, they are likely to interchange the words “Arizona” and “Valley” — as in Valley of the Sun — pretty much leaving everything else in the state irrelevant.

• When the push is on for transportation improvements, Phoenix gets the priority. Just look at their freeway system that actually works. When it comes to public transportation, Phoenix was notorious for having one of the worst a few decades ago, now it has a light rail system that’s up and running. Tucson doesn’t have a freeway for commuters and instead of light rail, we’re about to get a “modern streetcar” that isn’t even intended for commuter traffic.  

• Perhaps most impactful of all, while the Phoenix area has been hit extraordinarily hard by the housing meltdown, the area will gain representation in statewide and national governing bodies as a result of next year’s Census. This will mean they will be able to push their political weight around even more.

There are Tucsonans who take pride in the fact that this region is different. Politically, it’s a blue area in a red state. And yet what do we get for that? Too many elected representatives at the State Capitol who are in the minority and don’t have the clout to initiate or pass legislation.

The tide is changing. But Tucsonans aren’t driving the change. Circumstances are driving the change. Tucson has no shared vision for what should make it distinctive. As a result we’re losing our identity.

As a publication that reports on business dealings for the region, Inside Tucson Business wants a vigorous economy, with industry producing a fair amount of goods for export, supported by a well-trained workforce who are getting high-wage incomes. 

But unless we realize what’s happening and react to it, Tucson will be looked upon by others who control our destiny as a region run by stubborn leadership that can be ignored.