Sunday, June 24, 2007

Downtown in Pictures: June 2007

Downtown Phoenix is in the midst of an unprecedented construction boom. Here are a few pictures of the goings-on, with commentary:

Rebirth
Some of my favorite downtown projects are the restorations of the old, forgotten buildings in and around downtown. Those projects are every bit as much of a sign of the downtown comeback as the big deals. Here are a couple of those:

The bar next door to Fate (924 N. Fourth Street, just south of Roosevelt) looks just about done. The patio out front and the tree-like structure in the middle should be a fun place to hang out.


Since Matt's Big Breakfast opened in late 2004, two of the neighboring single-story buildings have been rehabbed-- one holds an architecture firm and another is the sales office for KML, the company developing Mosaic in Tempe and the "Gateway" project at Roosevelt and Third Street. This building, a little closer to the downtown core at 705 N. First Street,
is poised to join its neighbors as a restored, useful structure.
This little house on north Second Avenue is one I've spotlighted for a while. Its exterior is just about done, although the tagged-up door is kind of a cool vestige of the building's former dilapidated self.

The New, but Smaller, Stuff
Light rail will be up and running (supposedly) in just under 18 months. Here you can see the "sails" that will provide shade to the Metro stations have been installed at the station at Central and Van Buren.

Odyssey Homes is building three small communities north of Roosevelt Street. This one is at the northeast corner of Second Street and Portland Street; I think the project looks nice and urban the way it faces the street. A twin development is being built at the southwest corner of the same intersection. The new residents here ought to supply nearby Carly's Bistro with a few more customers within walking distance, although judging from the looks of things Carly's is doing pretty well all by itself right now.


The Portland 38 project is moving forward in the Garfield neighborhood east of Seventh Street. I love the view of the cranes in the background of this picture. I don't love the site plan for Portland 38, in which it appears the buildings don't face the street. That causes the development to act a little more like a suburban apartment complex, which is too bad.


ALTA Phoenix construction is rolling along. This project is supposed to feature retail and supposedly will have some gallery space for First Fridays. It's a cool development that will link together Roosevelt Row with the downtown core (Arizona Center is just across the street).


The BioScience high school is finishing up over at Fifth Street. While the building is a little fortress-like, especially from the back (not pictured here) I love the colors they used.


The twelve condos at 215 McKinley are just about finished. I like this development, although I think it was built one story too tall. This project will also have street-level retail and is within a five-minute walk of The Roosevelt, Matt's Big Breakfast and the shops at Artisan Village.

Finally, Roosevelt 11 is also under construction in the Garfield Neighborhood at Roosevelt and Ninth Street. Just five years ago it would have been unthinkable to see upscale condos being built in the once-crime-ridden Garfield district, so this building is a great sign.

The Big Guys.

Everybody knows about these high-profile projects-- you can see them driving by on the freeway, for one thing. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking here:


Portland Place, the best of all the new downtown projects (in my unbiased opinion)...
Summit, using some very daring color schemes. I kind of like it, but I hope their HOA doesn't hesitate to remake the colors in a few years if the colors start to look outdated. Note the weird contrast of styles with Chase Field in the background and a cool old warehouse in the foreground.

44 Monroe, which is just about topped off. I think it looks awesome the way it helps to fill out the downtown skyline.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Whither the Phoenix Urban Form project?

The Phoenix Urban Form project may be a victim of timing-- it got under way just after the last election cycle in which its doom was set up. The project, which promised to revamp downtown zoning laws to provide for a better city environment (including better pedestrian "connectivity" and shade), may not see the light of day if Phoenix's legal counsel has its way. The City Attorney's office has told the council behind the scenes that enacting the Urban Form recommendations will put the city at risk of a Proposition 207 lawsuit, and, consequently, the attorneys have advised the council not to go ahead with Urban Form. It will be interesting to see whether the council has a stomach for risk. If not, this worthwhile project will become a (silent) victim of the Prop 207 land use law passed by voters last year.

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Fenway West


Wanna-be New Englanders celebrate at Chase Field after Red Sox player Julio Lugo's first inning home run. By the way, my guess is 1/3 of the people cheering on the Sox in Phoenix yesterday are bandwagoners that have never set foot in Massachusetts.

Photo Credit: David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic.

Sports teams are sources of civic pride and help foster a sense of community. People's love for their cities is often reflected in their love of the local sports team-- look at Chicago with the Cubs or D.C. with the Redskins, for instance.

That's why it bugs me to attend sporting events in Phoenix. Fans of the home team in every sport are sometimes outnumbered and frequently outshouted by fans of the opposing teams. And, for the most part, the people cheering for the visiting teams are residents of the Phoenix area.

The scene was no different yesterday at Chase Field, where in my estimation at least half of the 40,000 fans on hand were there to cheer on the Boston Red Sox against the Diamondbacks. To me, this just shows that many of the people who move here never really see Phoenix as "home," and that their loyalties continue to lie elsewhere even when they moved here to escape some frigid place back east.

Having half the (local) fans cheering against the home team would be unthinkable in places like Chicago, D.C., New York, and of course Boston. Maybe someday I'll get to see the same thing happen here. In the meantime, go Diamondbacks (and Sun Devils, Suns, Coyotes, Sting, and yeah I guess even the Cardinals).