Tony Paniagua has the first in a series of two reports on the 10th anniversary of Tucson’s sustainable neighborhood known as Civano.

Civano is one of the largest "new urbanist" communities in the United States that also places an emphasis on sustainable features such as harvesting rainwater and solar panels for clean energy. New urbanist efforts encourage people to walk more by building higher density homes with walking areas and paths relatively close to businesses, restaurants or entertainment.

Judyth Willis moved to Tucson from Iowa and decided to open a bed and breakfast in the community and there are many other like-minded people who chose the neighborhood for some of the efforts that are being made there.

Simmons Bunton has a background in urban planning and he decided to move here with his wife when they relocated to Southern Arizona.

Brooks Jeffery is the director of the Drachman Institute at the University of Arizona. The institute is dedicated to environmentally sensitive projects and he says Civano provides a living laboratory for observation. "An experiment to deal with community-based planning at a scale much larger than has ever been done in Arizona."

Hundreds of residents on Tucson's SE side are planning an all-day party to celebrate the 10th year anniversary of the formation of their now famous neighborhood. It will be held on Saturday October 17th from 9 am until 4 pm and will include tours of homes and a school, and art show, public lectures, food vendors and a bluegrass band.