"A crime-ridden mess"

Out of nowhere this week from the well-respected international newsmagazine The Economist came a brutal depiction of the Phoenix metro area*: the city's high crime rate, low-rated public education system and awful pollution were cited as evidence that Phoenix is in decline; the magazine went so far as to call the city "a crime-ridden mess."

In an unusually ponderous article, The Economist pointed to several factors as reasons for our problems: meth smuggled from Mexico, lack of opportunity for minorities (evidenced by the proliferation of chain restaurants), and even light rail. But the article seems to settle on one factor as being the cause of our woes-- growth. The article makes the case that Phoenix's rapid urban growth has both overwhelmed our civic infrastructure such as prisons and courts, and that the lack of any sort of shared history among all the newcomers makes for a city of transients who not only fail to care about their adopted home but also are easy pickings for criminals.

Interesting comments, for sure. And incredibly timely (not to mention painful) in the wake of Friday's tragic one-two punch in which two news copters crashed into each other chasing a carjacker and, later on, a young policeman was murdered following up a report of a forged check.

But is growth the main culprit for these problems? Or something else? I have long believed that the rapid growth and turnover in this city make for a very disconnected place in which cultural institutions struggle for donations and our sports teams play in front of stadiums filled by fans of the visiting team. But is the transient nature of Phoenix even more malignant than that, as The Economist seems to think? Phoenix's leaders need to steer the city through its collective mourning and then start asking the big questions as to how to fix the "mess."


* = I refer to the entire metropolitan area as the "city" and "Phoenix," as does The Economist in the article. Jon Talton used to decry the use of "Valley" to describe the metro area, and I agree-- no one outside Phoenix has ever heard of the "Valley" (except to refer to Silicon Valley, perhaps).

Sun Mercantile thoughts

This week's Arizona Republic story about moving historic buildings, such as the Morin House on Second Street, had me wondering if the Sun Mercantile building could be transported to another site, settling the W Hotel/Sun Merc controversy once and for all. Unfortunately, there's no such compromise available. In this case, the site of the building is at least as important as the building itself (as the last building standing in Phoenix's second Chinatown), and regardless, the City of Phoenix Historic Preservation office doesn't believe the building would even survive a move.

So we'll continue to wait and see what happens with the ongoing litigation. If I had to bet on the outcome of the lawsuit, I'd guess the city and Suns are going to win. The legal case boils down to whether the city council exhibited an improper bias when it had ex parte contacts with constituents via e-mail, and whether that bias materially affected the outcome of the "case." That's going to be really tough for the Sun Merc plaintiffs to prove, even though their lawyers have done a great job thus far. (The case itself is approaching month number 18, although the city has another motion for summary judgment well in progress).

But looking even further beyond that, is the W Hotel another phantom project? The developer has clearly been content to ride out the litigation and the soft real estate market-- and has not been too interested in a settlement-- not the behavior of a guy who wants to get his project going. At the very least, I wouldn't be too surprised to see the Suns and the city win the lawsuit and the project continue to sit idle.

The Brain Drain: it's real

Anecdotally, it's always seemed as though Phoenix is one of those cities that exports its talent. The vast majority of my friends-- who grew up in Phoenix-- went on to opportunities in places like Washington, D.C., Portland, New York and San Francisco. Conversely, at my out-of-state graduate school, the Phoenix-based companies that recruited on campus sometimes had to cancel their interview appointments due to lack of interest. Of course, that's all just anecdotal evidence.

But here's a study that demonstrates that relative to other cities, Phoenix does a poor job of attracting (and keeping) graduates of elite colleges. Forbes.com examined the migration patterns of Class of 1997 alumni from Harvard, Princeton, Duke, Northwestern, Rice and Stanford (individuals who could probably choose to live anywhere) and determined that Phoenix was 39th out of the 40 biggest American metro areas as a destination for those individuals. That poor showing led the web site to rank Phoenix as the 27th best city overall for young professionals, behind places like Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, and well behind western competitors Denver (#10), Austin (#11), and San Diego (#19).

I would argue that one significant factor creating Phoenix's inability to attract talent is our lack of city life. While not all young professionals want true urban life, many do-- and they gravitate toward places that offer them that opportunity. By concentrating solely (until maybe the last 5-10 years) on the suburban form, Phoenix has never offered a variety of living options. Hopefully that has finally changed. This ranking is further confirmation that it should change.

Chez Nous lands on Grand

I'm hearing that Chez Nous, the cocktail lounge that was located at Seventh Avenue and Indian School, is moving downtown into the Grand Avenue site currently housing Fat Cats at 915 N.W. Grand Avenue. That is cool news. I've never been to Fat Cats, but I've gone to Chez Nous several times. I can't think of any other place in Phoenix where people of all races, economic backgrounds and ages would feel comfortable. I'm glad to see it's going to keep on going and add to the downtown mix. That will be some kind of place on First Fridays...

Downtown Phoenix Project List

[list updated December 20, 2014]

Below is an attempt to list the current, future, and already completed projects. The list is not static as I'm sure I've missed some projects (especially in the "rumored" category). I also tried to draw a line and only included projects finished after 2000 in and around downtown (south of I-10, between about Tenth Street and Tenth Avenue, and north of Lincoln), and I excluded single-family home renovations-- there are just too many to list. Your input is always welcome...

Under Construction (as of December 20, 2014)

Residential
1. Townhomes on 3rd (10 townhomes), Third Avenue south of Roosevelt Street

Office
[none as of this time]

Hotel
1. Foundry Hotel, total rooms unknown, Central Avenue and Portland Street
2. Mariott Hotel, 320 rooms, Central Avenue and Jefferson Street

Academic
1. ASU School of Law, Second Street and Taylor Street

Retail
1. Hanny's renovation, restaurant in rehabbed department store, First Street and Adams Street
2. Security Building, first floor renovation


Yet to break ground/rumored (as of April 29, 2008)

Residential
1. Portland on the Park, 170 condos/four buildings up to 14 stories, roughly Second Avenue and Portland Street
2. Phoenix Transit Center apartments, 476 apartments/34 floors, Central Avenue and Van Buren Street
3. Roosevelt Street apartment project, Third Street and Roosevelt (south side)
4. Roosevelt Street apartment project, Third Street and Roosevelt (north side)

Office
[none]

Hotel
1. Hilton Garden Inn, Central Avenue and Monroe Street


Completed [this section under development]

Residential1. 215 McKinley (2007), 12 condos, Second Street and McKinley Street
2. Stadium Lofts (2005), approx. 30 condos, Second Street and Buchanon Street
3. Artisan Village (2005), 105 condos, square bounded by Seventh Street and Fifth Street and Roosevelt Street and Portland Street
4. Orpheum Lofts (2005), 88 condos, First Avenue and Adams Street
5. Fontenelle Lofts (2005), 7 condos, Third Avenue and Roosevelt
6. Roosevelt Commons (2004), 48 apartments, Fifth and Sixth Streets at Roosevelt Street
7. Lofts at Fillmore (2000), 18 condos, Second Avenue and Fillmore
8. Roosevelt Square (2000), 414 apartments and 10-15 condos, square bounded by Central Avenue and Third Avenue, Roosevelt Street and Portland Street
9. Portland Place Phase I (2007), 54 condos/6 stories, Third Avenue and Portland Street.
10. PRD 845 (2007), 12 condos/4 stories, Seventh Avenue and Roosevelt Street
11. Summit (2008), 165 condos, Third Street and Jackson Street.
12. CityScape apartments (2014), Central Avenue and Jefferson Street

Office
1. Phelps Dodge Tower (2001), Central Avenue and Washington Street
2. Collier Center (2000), Third Street and Washington Street

* = development offends historic preservation standards or other sound urban planning principles

Brophy Towers update

The parcel of land across Central Avenue from Brophy Prep (uptown at Highland Avenue) contains a sign advertising the "Brophy Towers" condo tower-- and during the past couple years the promises advertised on the sign have bordered on the ridiculous with their constant modifications. At various times the sign has declared the development will be 32 stories, then 50, and now 36. The date of delivery of the condos has been all over the place, too. Even the name changed at one point. I figured for fun I'd track the sign and update it on this page as (inevitably) the vital stats change.

Project Name: Brophy Towers (formerly Metro Lofts)
Current Height: 36 stories
Current Delivery Date: Mid 2009

(By the way, this project looks cool in the rendering aside from the circa-1980 attached parking garage. I'd love to see it happen, but I'm more than a little skeptical...)

True lofts on Sixteenth Street, another Roosevelt Row newcomer

What downtown Phoenix doesn't have a lot of, unfortunately, are old buildings that can be rehabbed into something new and cool. So anyone looking to save some money by purchasing a remake of an old spot will have to start looking a little way outside the downtown core. Here are some awesome-looking spots over at Sixteenth Street and McDowell priced under $300K, courtesy of Desert Living Magazine:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWdiaQKzTRg


Meanwhile, another option for drinks has joined the mix around Roosevelt Row. The Lost Leaf bar at 914 N. Fifth Street opened up a few weeks ago and serves about 40 bottled beers and a couple wine options until 2 a.m. every night. Girlfriend_of_Downtown_Resident and I stopped by last night; we both liked the scene and I enjoyed the beer options (which are almost all nicely priced at $3 each). The menu promises draft beer and food options in the future, and I heard that they'll even offer discounts to anyone who walks or rides a bike to the location (the Artisan Village discount?).