Civic awareness is the foundation that makes people active participants in the fabric of their community and beyond. Volunteers that decide to participate in community planning and decision-making, invest in the community, and feel connected to the community. Nogales, Arizona, is a progressive city that has been able to maintain its small town charm, rich traditions, and vibrant culture. The city
is the county seat for Santa Cruz County and shares its rich heritage with Nogales, Sonora, its sister city in Mexico. Located along Arizona’s southern boundary, the City of Nogales, Arizona, borders Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, and is Arizona's largest international border town. Nogales, Arizona, is a major international gateway along the United States-Mexico border. Due to the International Border, Nogales is the economic capital of the region and serves as one of the major gateways into the United States. Visitors cross the border between both cities for site-seeing and shopping on a daily basis Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora form a single, functional and complex urban fabric in which some members of the same family may live on the United States while others may reside in Mexico, creating a sense of fluidity that impacts all aspects of life, including culture, language, heritage, character, identity, context, environment and economy.
