Shade, shade, shade

The current buzz in downtown Phoenix is about making the area an "oasis of shade." The Downtown Phoenix Urban Form project has made shade a major priority. And the Downtown Voices Coalition has talked about using shade to make downtown more walkable for years.

But I wonder if this concept, while important, isn't being oversold. Yes, downtown Phoenix has a lot of barren, shadeless areas. And certainly, much more should be done to add trees to the sidewalk, for instance, and use building codes to encourage shade from buildings as the Urban Form project plans to do.

But the lack of shade-- and the summer heat-- are not the reasons why people don't mingle in downtown Phoenix or walk much in the area. If they were, Phoenix would come alive with pedestrians in the cooler winter months. It doesn't. People still stay in their cars. So while adding some relief from the summer sun would be a welcome change for downtown Phoenix, that alone won't bring life to downtown. I wonder if it will change things much at all.