If downtown Phoenix is to emerge as a premier national downtown, it needs to do things better than other places. And if Fiancee_of_Downtown_resident and my experience is any indication, downtown still has a ways to go in some respects.
Fiancee_of_Downtown_resident and I are smack dab in the middle of wedding planning (which also helps explain the lack of attention I've given the blog). Being downtown boosters and all, we really liked the idea of having our reception somewhere around downtown. We contacted two city-run downtown facilities, both of which advertise in wedding publications as sites to hold receptions. We absolutely loved one of them, an historic building that could have been the site for a unique and unforgettable wedding reception and possibly ceremony. We toured the place, met with the relevant city representatives and were probably going to book the event until...they stopped calling us back.
Seriously? In this economy? A city starving for revenue is too busy to call a customer back? (A customer willing to spend several thousand dollars, no less.)
Our experience at the other downtown facility was not much different. We called the wedding coordinator there and this time we did receive a response...about eight weeks later.
By that time we had already moved on to plan B. We love the spot we picked in the Camelback Corridor, but it's tough thinking about what could have been downtown.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Slowly but surely
In a testament to how much people want an authentic, urban environment in Phoenix, there's still progress downtown even in this bleak economy.
Downtown denizens like me have looked forward for years to the opening of the Phoenix Public Market's permanent grocery store, the first such store in downtown Phoenix in a generation. Tomorrow is the day that the market finally opens. Here's hoping this is just another step in the remarkable growth of the public market since it opened in early 2005.
Did you know-- and can you believe-- that a housing development was actually just completed downtown? A transit-oriented development for seniors called McCarty on Monroe opened last week at 12th Street and Monroe, just one block north of a light rail stop. In this economy, this type of small-scale, near-downtown development is crucial if we're to build a true walkable urban environment.
Finally, the ultimate slowly-but-surely piece of news that emerged downtown is that the Downtown Phoenix Partnership is organizing a "zombie walk" the night before Halloween. While I beat up the DPP for a lot of their moves, they deserve some credit for putting this fun idea together.
Downtown denizens like me have looked forward for years to the opening of the Phoenix Public Market's permanent grocery store, the first such store in downtown Phoenix in a generation. Tomorrow is the day that the market finally opens. Here's hoping this is just another step in the remarkable growth of the public market since it opened in early 2005.
Did you know-- and can you believe-- that a housing development was actually just completed downtown? A transit-oriented development for seniors called McCarty on Monroe opened last week at 12th Street and Monroe, just one block north of a light rail stop. In this economy, this type of small-scale, near-downtown development is crucial if we're to build a true walkable urban environment.
Finally, the ultimate slowly-but-surely piece of news that emerged downtown is that the Downtown Phoenix Partnership is organizing a "zombie walk" the night before Halloween. While I beat up the DPP for a lot of their moves, they deserve some credit for putting this fun idea together.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
New downtown Phoenix marketing effort misses the mark
The Downtown Phoenix Partnership can’t seem to get out of its own way. After the partnership made the right call in abandoning the silly Copper Square “brand” for downtown, it followed up by unveiling an odd-looking logo and an unintentionally ironic billboard marketing campaign.
I won’t go into the logo (you can decide for yourself at downtownphoenix.com), but the billboards are an unfortunate waste of money. The signs are in several places around central Phoenix, and probably elsewhere, and show a panel of three pictures and the slogan “only in downtown Phoenix.” The problem is that the pictures are generic glamour shots of smiling kids and adults that look like they could be anywhere.
The Downtown Phoenix Partnership needs to scrap this first wave of billboards and roll out others that identify and depict the unique places and people of downtown—you know how many suburbanites still have never heard of Cibo, much less have no idea how to pronounce its name?— and stop trying to make downtown look like everywhere else.
I won’t go into the logo (you can decide for yourself at downtownphoenix.com), but the billboards are an unfortunate waste of money. The signs are in several places around central Phoenix, and probably elsewhere, and show a panel of three pictures and the slogan “only in downtown Phoenix.” The problem is that the pictures are generic glamour shots of smiling kids and adults that look like they could be anywhere.
The Downtown Phoenix Partnership needs to scrap this first wave of billboards and roll out others that identify and depict the unique places and people of downtown—you know how many suburbanites still have never heard of Cibo, much less have no idea how to pronounce its name?— and stop trying to make downtown look like everywhere else.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Two views of downtown emerge at ASU
Since I praised current ASU students for their more positive views about downtown, it seems a battle of opinions has been waged on campus about downtown Phoenix. While more students seem to have come around to the view that downtown Phoenix isn't "scary," at least one person still is afraid in downtown, especially being hit up for change. (Is that guy serious?)
Friday, August 28, 2009
'Twilight' under the stars
ASU students will resume their free movie showings at the Civic Space Park tonight with a screening of 'Twilight' at 8 p.m. The plan is to run movies on the fourth Friday of every month during the school year. This is a great concept, and I give a ton of credit to the ASU students who put this together. The current crop of students seems different from their recent predecessors, whom I criticized in the past for their knee-jerk derision of downtown Phoenix and their failure to lead. This group of ASU students is just the opposite, and is helping to shape downtown Phoenix in a very positive way.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Caffeine High for downtown Phoenix
Flash back to 2004, and it seemed like the nationwide coffee shop craze had bypassed Phoenix. Despite the success of independent coffee houses in basically every city nationwide-- even Buffalo has a hip local coffee chain known as 'Spot Coffee'-- Phoenix had only the Willow House and Lux and a few outposts in Tempe.
But in a boom that parallels the explosion of restaurants in and around downtown Phoenix, a lot has changed in a few years. Downtown and central Phoenix are now awash in java places, and the suddenly competitive landscape is going to test the depth of the downtown market.
By my count, there are three independent coffee shops and at least five Starbucks outlets in downtown Phoenix. Three more places (Tammie Coe, Krispy Kreme, and Calabria) serve coffee but specialize in other fare. Further uptown are several other popular indie coffee houses, including the aforementioned Lux, which sparked the trend.
And in the next few months, the number of independent shops is set to double. All the entrants are familiar faces-- Royal Coffee Bar will open a branch at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market's indoor store, the people behind Matt's Big Breakfast will open a shop near the Phoenix Art Museum, and on Friday Fair Trade Cafe will start up a second branch at the new Civic Space Park. In addition to the new independents, another chain-- Press Coffee-- was announced at CityScape.
As with every positive sign for downtown, there are sure to be naysayers and doubters that will come out of the woodwork. A common refrain will likely be that there aren't enough people downtown to populate these enterprises. But like the new restaurants, which all seem pretty popular even in the face of a recession and a massive cutback in consumer spending, I expect the coffee shops to do just fine.
The suburban doubters often misunderstand the urban market. Unlike suburban stores, which seem to like to isolate themselves from competition, urban shops benefit from clustering. The more places to go-- even places of the same type-- the more people will get out and walk the sidewalks and eventually decide to stop inside some place for a drink and a break. Coffee shops particularly fit the urban streetscape with their windows that let patrons face out and observe life outside the shop.
So, as with the proliferation of condos and restaurants, the more coffee shops in downtown Phoenix, the merrier.
But in a boom that parallels the explosion of restaurants in and around downtown Phoenix, a lot has changed in a few years. Downtown and central Phoenix are now awash in java places, and the suddenly competitive landscape is going to test the depth of the downtown market.
By my count, there are three independent coffee shops and at least five Starbucks outlets in downtown Phoenix. Three more places (Tammie Coe, Krispy Kreme, and Calabria) serve coffee but specialize in other fare. Further uptown are several other popular indie coffee houses, including the aforementioned Lux, which sparked the trend.
And in the next few months, the number of independent shops is set to double. All the entrants are familiar faces-- Royal Coffee Bar will open a branch at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market's indoor store, the people behind Matt's Big Breakfast will open a shop near the Phoenix Art Museum, and on Friday Fair Trade Cafe will start up a second branch at the new Civic Space Park. In addition to the new independents, another chain-- Press Coffee-- was announced at CityScape.
As with every positive sign for downtown, there are sure to be naysayers and doubters that will come out of the woodwork. A common refrain will likely be that there aren't enough people downtown to populate these enterprises. But like the new restaurants, which all seem pretty popular even in the face of a recession and a massive cutback in consumer spending, I expect the coffee shops to do just fine.
The suburban doubters often misunderstand the urban market. Unlike suburban stores, which seem to like to isolate themselves from competition, urban shops benefit from clustering. The more places to go-- even places of the same type-- the more people will get out and walk the sidewalks and eventually decide to stop inside some place for a drink and a break. Coffee shops particularly fit the urban streetscape with their windows that let patrons face out and observe life outside the shop.
So, as with the proliferation of condos and restaurants, the more coffee shops in downtown Phoenix, the merrier.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
The free market did not give us suburbia
A common refrain of defenders of the dominant American suburban form is that it is simply the culmination of millions of microeconomic decisions by consumers to "vote with their feet" and buy a house in the 'burbs. If mainstream Americans really wanted urban living, they would have chosen to stay in the cities, goes the argument.
A great article in today's Wall Street Journal debunks that free market myth, and discusses the way that government-- through its creation of Fannie Mae and federal underwriting for mortgage loans, among others-- shaped our sprawled-out society through multiple market-distorting policies throughout the 20th century. One key quote from the article:
The article is a worthwhile read, and makes one ponder how America would look if government policy (authored by politicians of both parties) hadn't for decades obsessed over increasing (mostly suburban) homeownership. And it goes without saying that Phoenix, which came of age as these policies were in their ascendancy, would have looked much different. It also makes one wonder about Phoenix's future as these policies increasingly come under question by politicians and more importantly, consumers.
A great article in today's Wall Street Journal debunks that free market myth, and discusses the way that government-- through its creation of Fannie Mae and federal underwriting for mortgage loans, among others-- shaped our sprawled-out society through multiple market-distorting policies throughout the 20th century. One key quote from the article:
The article doesn't even get into the federal government's massive freeway-building programs that laid waste to central-city neighborhoods in order to whisk commuters into and out of downtowns and back to the suburbs."Federal housing policies changed the whole landscape of America, creating the
sprawlscapes that we now call home, and in the process, gutting inner
cities...[o]f new housing today, 80% is built in the suburbs-- the direct legacy
of federal policies that favored outlying areas rather than the rehabilitation
of city centers."
The article is a worthwhile read, and makes one ponder how America would look if government policy (authored by politicians of both parties) hadn't for decades obsessed over increasing (mostly suburban) homeownership. And it goes without saying that Phoenix, which came of age as these policies were in their ascendancy, would have looked much different. It also makes one wonder about Phoenix's future as these policies increasingly come under question by politicians and more importantly, consumers.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Elsewhere around downtown
A look at what others are saying about life in downtown and metro Phoenix:
* A group is organizing tonight to promote late-night hours on the light rail line. I took light rail after 11 p.m. on a Friday a few weeks ago and it was packed, but it's great to see others fighting complacency and helping to make sure that we don't lose our late hours.
* A state legislator gives Downtown Voices Coalition a "C+" on its report card and then receives rebuttal from a DVC member listing the group's accomplishments. I'm interested to see if the legislator responds.
* Samuel Richard at the Downtown Phoenix Journal writes about people leaving Phoenix, and draws an avalanche of responses on the topic.
* Phoenix is noticed by the Wall Street Journal, but once again it's not for reasons we'd like.
* A group is organizing tonight to promote late-night hours on the light rail line. I took light rail after 11 p.m. on a Friday a few weeks ago and it was packed, but it's great to see others fighting complacency and helping to make sure that we don't lose our late hours.
* A state legislator gives Downtown Voices Coalition a "C+" on its report card and then receives rebuttal from a DVC member listing the group's accomplishments. I'm interested to see if the legislator responds.
* Samuel Richard at the Downtown Phoenix Journal writes about people leaving Phoenix, and draws an avalanche of responses on the topic.
* Phoenix is noticed by the Wall Street Journal, but once again it's not for reasons we'd like.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Frugal in (downtown) Phoenix
One of the knocks on urban living is that it's too expensive, and therefore inaccessible to middle and certainly lower-income earners. One look at some of the prices on menus at downtown Phoenix restaurants and-- still to some degree-- the prices of downtown condos-- lends a lot of credence to that argument. Obviously, high prices are a scourge these days as everyone tries to cut back on costs and save more. So can downtown Phoenix fit into a budget?
Fiancee_of_Downtown_Resident and I certainly think so. Friday night we hit the Third Fridays concert at the Civic Space Park (free), traveled to Tempe on light rail ($3.50 as I had already purchased a round trip that day for work) and purchased two huge yogurts at Mojo ($5 with a coupon) before catching a hilarious open mic on Mill Avenue (free) for less than $10 total.
The free Third Fridays concert got me thinking-- what other free or cheap hidden gems exist downtown? There are some good ones:
Fiancee_of_Downtown_Resident and I certainly think so. Friday night we hit the Third Fridays concert at the Civic Space Park (free), traveled to Tempe on light rail ($3.50 as I had already purchased a round trip that day for work) and purchased two huge yogurts at Mojo ($5 with a coupon) before catching a hilarious open mic on Mill Avenue (free) for less than $10 total.
The free Third Fridays concert got me thinking-- what other free or cheap hidden gems exist downtown? There are some good ones:
Phoenix Art Museum: free First Fridays from 6-10 p.m.
(obviously, dozens of galleries around downtown and central Phoenix are free on First and Third Fridays as well)
Heard Museum: free Third Fridays from 5:30-9 p.m. and Saturday, July 25 and August 1, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Civic Space Third Fridays concert series: free every Third Friday; also watch for the occasional free movies in the park.
Arizona Science Center/Phoenix Children's Museum/Phoenix Art Museum/Heard Museum: free with Culture Pass from various libraries including the Burton Barr Phoenix Library (admits 4).
AMC 24 at the Arizona Center: $5 movies before noon, including weekends.
Carly's: $3 wine on Thursdays.
Feel free to include any of your own free and inexpensive downtown Phoenix items in the comments...
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Do people really believe this stuff?
I acknowledge the fact that it's hard to draw any conclusions about people's thinking from online forums, particularly the local mecca of mouth-breathers, the azcentral.com blogs.
But some recent comments made by one inhabitant of the azcentral.com forums were striking to me for their sheer ignorance:
For obvious reasons, I'll let these arguments speak for themselves. But it's no wonder that downtown Phoenix looks the way it does when this line of thought is prevalent in the community.
But some recent comments made by one inhabitant of the azcentral.com forums were striking to me for their sheer ignorance:
"Most major cities never had a downtown and function quite well without
one.""There are few if any examples of the successful application of urban planning models to the development of a modern city."
"All of Paris is a downtown, just like all of Phoenix is a downtown."
For obvious reasons, I'll let these arguments speak for themselves. But it's no wonder that downtown Phoenix looks the way it does when this line of thought is prevalent in the community.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Welcome to the neighborhood, and please come again soon
I'm tempted to be annoyed by the fact that ADOT has shut down I-10 between Seventh Street and Seventh Avenue for roadwork for the third weekend in the last four (and plans to do it one more time next weekend). I was going to write a post about the way that decision has choked downtown streets such as McDowell and Roosevelt, causing large backups on Seventh Street and Seventh Avenue in the process and making errands like running to the grocery store inordinately difficult.
But I decided the better approach was to see the bright side of ADOT's move. Thousands of people who would have just zipped past downtown Phoenix and given the area a passing notice, if any at all, were exposed to the area these last few weekends. Those who took their detour along Roosevelt Street got to see, among other things, relatively new urban housing developments, a bakery, restaurants, and a new record store. This had to be quite a shock for many in this metro area, where it's not uncommon to hear people say they haven't been downtown in 15 or more years. No doubt many of those people expect downtown to be a frightening and crime-ridden place, and almost certainly those people were pleasantly surprised.
On second thought, maybe we can petition ADOT to shut down I-10 every weekend.
But I decided the better approach was to see the bright side of ADOT's move. Thousands of people who would have just zipped past downtown Phoenix and given the area a passing notice, if any at all, were exposed to the area these last few weekends. Those who took their detour along Roosevelt Street got to see, among other things, relatively new urban housing developments, a bakery, restaurants, and a new record store. This had to be quite a shock for many in this metro area, where it's not uncommon to hear people say they haven't been downtown in 15 or more years. No doubt many of those people expect downtown to be a frightening and crime-ridden place, and almost certainly those people were pleasantly surprised.
On second thought, maybe we can petition ADOT to shut down I-10 every weekend.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
New Times responds to light rail ridership issue
Ray Stern, the author of the New Times light rail ridership article I discussed a few months back stopped by to comment on my post. If you recall, I suggested New Times exaggerated the state of light rail ridership and ignored the fact that Metro ridership is well above the system's own initial estimates. Ray believes I implied that it was OK for Metro to selectively report its statistics in his comment; I argue otherwise in my response.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Downtown Phoenix snippets
Downtown Phoenix continues to inch forward with the addition of new businesses. Revolver Records is leaving its home in the Melrose area of Seventh Avenue for a spot on the south side of Roosevelt Street across from Carly’s Restaurant. Revolver opened July 1 and doesn’t close on weekends until 10 p.m.
Meanwhile, the buildings that used to house Fate and Next Door will get new life as Nine05, a restaurant, and Canteen, a “gastropub.” Sounds interesting.
Jim McPherson has put together a map of downtown’s various projects with some good commentary and descriptions of the current status of what’s going on.
Lower Grand Avenue will host a street festival in September, and has put together a cool blog celebrating the festival and the restaurants and attractions on the street. Hopefully they’ll catch a break with some cool weather that day.
Meanwhile, the buildings that used to house Fate and Next Door will get new life as Nine05, a restaurant, and Canteen, a “gastropub.” Sounds interesting.
Jim McPherson has put together a map of downtown’s various projects with some good commentary and descriptions of the current status of what’s going on.
Lower Grand Avenue will host a street festival in September, and has put together a cool blog celebrating the festival and the restaurants and attractions on the street. Hopefully they’ll catch a break with some cool weather that day.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Dark Knight, Bright Day for Downtown Phoenix
On a perfect April night last week, you could see things all starting to come together for downtown Phoenix.
On the surface, it was merely a couple hundred people taking in a free movie in a park. But when put in perspective, the screening of The Dark Knight put on by ASU students for a class project was a huge moment that illustrated how far downtown Phoenix has come.
The movie screen was in the center of a juxtaposition of downtown Phoenix's old and new. The screen sat in front of the newly-restored 1926 A.E. England Building, flanked on its left by the "Her Secret is Patience" sculpture (also referred to by many more colloquially as the "Jellyfish") and on the right by the very bright lights of the new Central Park East high rise. Moviegoers were pleasantly distracted by the light rail trains that both in front and behind them as well as the news zipper scrolling along on the ASU journalism building. And of course, beneath the movie patrons was the brand-new Downtown Phoenix Civic Space, a 2.77-acre gem of a park that just opened.
An even more positive sign was the crowd that came to watch the movie. Not only did the turnout exceed expectations (with minimal publicity, organizers expected 60-75 attendees and then at least 250 showed up), but it was a crazy blend of people: old and young, all races, ASU students, high-rise condo dwellers and homeless people. And as far as I could tell, everyone enjoyed themselves.
I've been critical of ASU in the past. Its administrators descended on downtown and acted like they owned the place-- let's not forget they wanted to tear down the A.E. England Building they're now patting themselves on the back for saving-- and at first its students publicly bashed their new environment instead of trying to go out and change it for the better. However, on this night ASU's students had a very positive effect on downtown with their ingenious, well-run program to activate the new park. This event showed the promise the university's presence can have for downtown.
As the event ended, people were overheard saying what a great event it was, how they couldn't believe it took place downtown, and how they'd be back (WALL-E will run this Saturday at 7:30 p.m.). Hopefully this is the start of a new tradition that can take its place alongside First Fridays and Suns games as a constant in downtown life. But even if it doesn't, it was enough to illustrate to everyone there that there is at last a burgeoning urban center in the giant megalopolis.
Apparently, while no one was looking, downtown Phoenix came to life.
On the surface, it was merely a couple hundred people taking in a free movie in a park. But when put in perspective, the screening of The Dark Knight put on by ASU students for a class project was a huge moment that illustrated how far downtown Phoenix has come.
The movie screen was in the center of a juxtaposition of downtown Phoenix's old and new. The screen sat in front of the newly-restored 1926 A.E. England Building, flanked on its left by the "Her Secret is Patience" sculpture (also referred to by many more colloquially as the "Jellyfish") and on the right by the very bright lights of the new Central Park East high rise. Moviegoers were pleasantly distracted by the light rail trains that both in front and behind them as well as the news zipper scrolling along on the ASU journalism building. And of course, beneath the movie patrons was the brand-new Downtown Phoenix Civic Space, a 2.77-acre gem of a park that just opened.
An even more positive sign was the crowd that came to watch the movie. Not only did the turnout exceed expectations (with minimal publicity, organizers expected 60-75 attendees and then at least 250 showed up), but it was a crazy blend of people: old and young, all races, ASU students, high-rise condo dwellers and homeless people. And as far as I could tell, everyone enjoyed themselves.
I've been critical of ASU in the past. Its administrators descended on downtown and acted like they owned the place-- let's not forget they wanted to tear down the A.E. England Building they're now patting themselves on the back for saving-- and at first its students publicly bashed their new environment instead of trying to go out and change it for the better. However, on this night ASU's students had a very positive effect on downtown with their ingenious, well-run program to activate the new park. This event showed the promise the university's presence can have for downtown.
As the event ended, people were overheard saying what a great event it was, how they couldn't believe it took place downtown, and how they'd be back (WALL-E will run this Saturday at 7:30 p.m.). Hopefully this is the start of a new tradition that can take its place alongside First Fridays and Suns games as a constant in downtown life. But even if it doesn't, it was enough to illustrate to everyone there that there is at last a burgeoning urban center in the giant megalopolis.
Apparently, while no one was looking, downtown Phoenix came to life.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
All quiet
One of the x-factors for downtown is the performance of its two main sports teams, the Diamondbacks and Suns. When the teams are playing well, attendance at their respective events surges and downtown becomes that much more alive. (Granted, the two stadiums do a lousy job of interacting with the rest of downtown, but while the spillover from downtown sporting events could be better, there is no doubt that the streets are more alive and downtown businesses profit. Hopefully the presence of light rail will enhance the sports spillover even further.)
But as of late April 2009, things are pretty quiet on the downtown sports scene. The Suns missed the playoffs for the first time since 2004, costing downtown establishments as much as $200,000 per game in lost revenue, and the Diamondbacks are off to a bad start with their punchless offense.
The prognosis for the two teams seem very different: the aging Suns ought to tear up the team while there is still some trade value in their older players— hanging on to some of the younger guys who hustle on defense as well as offense such as Jared Dudley (above)— while the Diamondbacks have to be patient with a team that’s still very young and wait for the talent that showed itself in 2006 to return.
Here’s hoping that the two teams can turn things around quickly. It’s great for all of Phoenix and especially downtown when the Suns and D-backs are title contenders as they both were just a couple years ago. And I shudder to think how far we’ve fallen if our best hope for a championship in Phoenix is…the Cardinals?
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
New Times still doesn't get light rail
Phoenix New Times has a libertarian streak that emerges from time to time in its opposition to light rail (although sadly they don’t seem to apply the same limited government philosophy to new freeway construction). This week the online version of the paper took a shot at the train, suggesting in a misleading headline that “light rail ridership [was] on decline…”
While average daily ridership in March dropped 3% from February’s numbers, there are a couple points to keep in mind. First, the March totals represented the first time average ridership has fallen, so it’s really not fair to suggest that ridership is on the decline, as if to imply some sort of trend. Perhaps this is the start of a trend as the warmer months approach, and perhaps not. We won’t know for sure until future numbers are released by Metro.
Second, and more importantly, the New Times needs to remember the baseline. For years, Metro estimated that 26,000 riders would board the train on an average day during light rail’s first year. By this measure, the train is a huge success: even the March figures (31,000+ per day) are almost 20% above the estimate. Even if ridership falls significantly during the summer, Metro is probably still a sure bet to exceed its own initial ridership estimate for the first year.
Finally, New Times is probably best-advised to avoid predicting ill fates for the light rail; the paper’s credibility in that area is somewhat shot after it ran a story last May giving the train little hope of opening on time. As we now know, light rail opened at the end of December on the exact date it announced years earlier.
While average daily ridership in March dropped 3% from February’s numbers, there are a couple points to keep in mind. First, the March totals represented the first time average ridership has fallen, so it’s really not fair to suggest that ridership is on the decline, as if to imply some sort of trend. Perhaps this is the start of a trend as the warmer months approach, and perhaps not. We won’t know for sure until future numbers are released by Metro.
Second, and more importantly, the New Times needs to remember the baseline. For years, Metro estimated that 26,000 riders would board the train on an average day during light rail’s first year. By this measure, the train is a huge success: even the March figures (31,000+ per day) are almost 20% above the estimate. Even if ridership falls significantly during the summer, Metro is probably still a sure bet to exceed its own initial ridership estimate for the first year.
Finally, New Times is probably best-advised to avoid predicting ill fates for the light rail; the paper’s credibility in that area is somewhat shot after it ran a story last May giving the train little hope of opening on time. As we now know, light rail opened at the end of December on the exact date it announced years earlier.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Poor stadium siting decision is multi-million dollar mistake
You could laugh at the stupidity of some of the land use decisions made in the Phoenix area if they weren't so sad. Witness the struggles of Glendale and Phoenix as they try to figure out how to overcome the brutal mistake of placing University of Phoenix Stadium too far outside the urban core.
The issue reared its head as Glendale has expressed its interest in connecting the light rail system to the stadium, probably by running the train up the loop 101 from I-10. While this is a questionable decision because it uses light rail on freeways-- eliminating any opportunities for transit-oriented development on city streets, including Glendale's own downtown-- it also clearly exposes the stupidity of putting the football stadium so far away from the center of the metro area.
For those who have forgotten, Glendale ended up with the stadium after the initial site-- located in Tempe along what is now the light rail line-- was scuttled by concerns from the Federal Aviation Administration and the City of Phoenix that the stadium's proposed location in the stadium flight path was a hazard to jets taking off from the airport. The Glendale site ended up chosen almost by default as several other sites, including one in downtown Phoenix, dropped out of contention. (By the way, I have long argued that it was a positive move for downtown Phoenix that the stadium went elsewhere.)
So here we are in 2009. The stadium was built at 91st Avenue and Glendale just inside the Loop 101, where land was empty and cheap and accessible only by freeway. Meanwhile, light rail has initially proven quite successful, and places like Glendale and Mesa are clamoring for extensions into their cities. And now it's deemed a priority to bring light rail to the stadium, as Glendale and Phoenix attempt to marry the suburban, sprawled-out stadium with urban mass transit. While it's questionable how successful that arrangement will be, if it happens, there's no doubt it's going to be expensive-- the initial estimate for the additional track is $224 million.
So that's $224 million that strapped taxpayers could have avoided spending had our planners had some foresight just a few years ago and placed the stadium in Tempe or somewhere else on or near the light rail path. Hopefully future Phoenix-area land use decisions will be a little more informed now that light rail is here to stay.
The issue reared its head as Glendale has expressed its interest in connecting the light rail system to the stadium, probably by running the train up the loop 101 from I-10. While this is a questionable decision because it uses light rail on freeways-- eliminating any opportunities for transit-oriented development on city streets, including Glendale's own downtown-- it also clearly exposes the stupidity of putting the football stadium so far away from the center of the metro area.
For those who have forgotten, Glendale ended up with the stadium after the initial site-- located in Tempe along what is now the light rail line-- was scuttled by concerns from the Federal Aviation Administration and the City of Phoenix that the stadium's proposed location in the stadium flight path was a hazard to jets taking off from the airport. The Glendale site ended up chosen almost by default as several other sites, including one in downtown Phoenix, dropped out of contention. (By the way, I have long argued that it was a positive move for downtown Phoenix that the stadium went elsewhere.)
So here we are in 2009. The stadium was built at 91st Avenue and Glendale just inside the Loop 101, where land was empty and cheap and accessible only by freeway. Meanwhile, light rail has initially proven quite successful, and places like Glendale and Mesa are clamoring for extensions into their cities. And now it's deemed a priority to bring light rail to the stadium, as Glendale and Phoenix attempt to marry the suburban, sprawled-out stadium with urban mass transit. While it's questionable how successful that arrangement will be, if it happens, there's no doubt it's going to be expensive-- the initial estimate for the additional track is $224 million.
So that's $224 million that strapped taxpayers could have avoided spending had our planners had some foresight just a few years ago and placed the stadium in Tempe or somewhere else on or near the light rail path. Hopefully future Phoenix-area land use decisions will be a little more informed now that light rail is here to stay.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Beyond chains and cheese: Restaurant madness and what it means for downtown
While the arts community was the first generation of pioneers to successfully lift downtown Phoenix out of its doldrums, the second wave of downtown resurgence came from the independent restaurants that gambled on the area. By 2005, places like Matt's Big Breakfast, Cibo and Fate proved that independent restaurants with quality food could really have success downtown.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and 2009 is really proving that as the number of restaurants opening their doors all around the aforementioned downtown pioneers is staggering. Already this year the Turf (formerly Turf Accountant), Pasta Bar, El Portal and Sapna's Cafe have opened. By the end of the month Moira will bring sushi back to downtown for the first time in years, and sometime soon Luke's of Chicago will start a branch on Seventh Street in a renovated historic building while a mediterranean restaurant is set to appear on Roosevelt Street just east of Third Avenue. Almost every one of those restaurants is within a half-mile radius of the original Matt's/Fate duo that got things rolling.
Amidst all this Pallette apparently closed-- which is shocking for anyone like me who was part of the sometimes-90 minute wait on the weekends for brunch-- but the rumor is that someone else wanted the location and that Pallette will resurface somewhere else in the area.
Assuming these businesses can survive the current economic conditions, they'll be poised to really help downtown surge when the housing market finally turns around. Downtown Phoenix probably already stood alone with Tempe's Mill Avenue and Old Town Scottsdale as options for those who live in the Phoenix area and prefer walkable urban environments. But aided in no small part by this restaurant boom, downtown has separated itself from the chains of Mill and the cheese of Scottsdale as probably the premiere locale for urbanists. While downtown Phoenix is of course only beginning to catch up with even its western competitors in places like Denver and Portland, it has clearly established some positive momentum.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and 2009 is really proving that as the number of restaurants opening their doors all around the aforementioned downtown pioneers is staggering. Already this year the Turf (formerly Turf Accountant), Pasta Bar, El Portal and Sapna's Cafe have opened. By the end of the month Moira will bring sushi back to downtown for the first time in years, and sometime soon Luke's of Chicago will start a branch on Seventh Street in a renovated historic building while a mediterranean restaurant is set to appear on Roosevelt Street just east of Third Avenue. Almost every one of those restaurants is within a half-mile radius of the original Matt's/Fate duo that got things rolling.
Amidst all this Pallette apparently closed-- which is shocking for anyone like me who was part of the sometimes-90 minute wait on the weekends for brunch-- but the rumor is that someone else wanted the location and that Pallette will resurface somewhere else in the area.
Assuming these businesses can survive the current economic conditions, they'll be poised to really help downtown surge when the housing market finally turns around. Downtown Phoenix probably already stood alone with Tempe's Mill Avenue and Old Town Scottsdale as options for those who live in the Phoenix area and prefer walkable urban environments. But aided in no small part by this restaurant boom, downtown has separated itself from the chains of Mill and the cheese of Scottsdale as probably the premiere locale for urbanists. While downtown Phoenix is of course only beginning to catch up with even its western competitors in places like Denver and Portland, it has clearly established some positive momentum.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Downtown odds and ends
A well-placed source says:
* Workers will install the civic space park artwork (you know, the "jellyfish") on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.
* The Suns estimate that 10% of fans at US Airways Center arrive on light rail.
* Light rail ridership numbers in February are significantly higher than January's numbers, which beat the preliminary estimates.
* Unfortunately, 44 Monroe only has 11 contracts out of 202 units in the building. A glance at the building at night-- where only a handful of condos are lighted up-- seems to confirm that statement.
* Workers will install the civic space park artwork (you know, the "jellyfish") on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.
* The Suns estimate that 10% of fans at US Airways Center arrive on light rail.
* Light rail ridership numbers in February are significantly higher than January's numbers, which beat the preliminary estimates.
* Unfortunately, 44 Monroe only has 11 contracts out of 202 units in the building. A glance at the building at night-- where only a handful of condos are lighted up-- seems to confirm that statement.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
A silver lining for downtown Phoenix office space
As the Phoenix office market collapses, downtown's share of the smaller pie keeps growing. CB Richard Ellis reported that in the fourth quarter of 2008, downtown Phoenix's office vacancy rate climbed to 12.8%, but that figure still was better than all of downtown Phoenix's major competitors (midtown Phoenix was at 16.0%, the Camelback Corridor had a vacancy rate of 17.8%, and the Scottsdale Airpark and north Scottsdale markets checked in with whopping vacancy rates of 24.4% and 28.8%, respectively).
In the meantime, downtown Phoenix was one of the few submarkets to add space, as Central Park East and the CityScape office tower construction progressed. Downtown is poised to add more than one million square feet of Class A office space, more than double any of the other Phoenix-area submarkets. That construction will help downtown surpass midtown Phoenix in terms of overall Class A office space, and cause downtown to become the third-biggest Class A office submarket in greater Phoenix. In fact, downtown Phoenix would have become the biggest Class A submarket in the Phoenix area had the Camelback Corridor and Scottsdale Airpark not been in the midst of their own office building projects.
While downtown Phoenix has always been a decent office outpost and lagged in commercial and residential options, adding more people to the downtown mix-- even if it's just during the 9-to-5-- is never a bad thing. The big issue now will be finding tenants for all the new office space (especially at Central Park East, which currently has no tenants).
In the meantime, downtown Phoenix was one of the few submarkets to add space, as Central Park East and the CityScape office tower construction progressed. Downtown is poised to add more than one million square feet of Class A office space, more than double any of the other Phoenix-area submarkets. That construction will help downtown surpass midtown Phoenix in terms of overall Class A office space, and cause downtown to become the third-biggest Class A office submarket in greater Phoenix. In fact, downtown Phoenix would have become the biggest Class A submarket in the Phoenix area had the Camelback Corridor and Scottsdale Airpark not been in the midst of their own office building projects.
While downtown Phoenix has always been a decent office outpost and lagged in commercial and residential options, adding more people to the downtown mix-- even if it's just during the 9-to-5-- is never a bad thing. The big issue now will be finding tenants for all the new office space (especially at Central Park East, which currently has no tenants).
Monday, January 26, 2009
Laying the foundation
During these recession/depressionary times, not much building will occur. So it's nice to see the infrastructure set in place for the next wave of development, whenever that occurs. Here are two examples.
First, the city completed streetscape improvements on Second Avenue from Fillmore Street all the way up to Roosevelt. Shade trees, palm trees and grassy lawns were added, decorative 'acorn' lamps were installed, and, perhaps most importantly, the sidewalk was widened. Future developments on both sides of the street will benefit, as will anyone walking from the Roosevelt and Third Avenue area all the way to the core of downtown.
Second, APS added a downtown substation at Seventh and Garfield Streets to serve the larger numbers of residents and businesses in the area. That by itself is decent news, but then APS made a maneuver so creative that it's hard to believe it occurred in Phoenix: it decorated the exterior of the substation so that it looks very similar to the neighboring Artisan Village condos. As you can see in the picture above, the facade mimicked the Artisan Village look right down to the balconies!
First, the city completed streetscape improvements on Second Avenue from Fillmore Street all the way up to Roosevelt. Shade trees, palm trees and grassy lawns were added, decorative 'acorn' lamps were installed, and, perhaps most importantly, the sidewalk was widened. Future developments on both sides of the street will benefit, as will anyone walking from the Roosevelt and Third Avenue area all the way to the core of downtown.
Second, APS added a downtown substation at Seventh and Garfield Streets to serve the larger numbers of residents and businesses in the area. That by itself is decent news, but then APS made a maneuver so creative that it's hard to believe it occurred in Phoenix: it decorated the exterior of the substation so that it looks very similar to the neighboring Artisan Village condos. As you can see in the picture above, the facade mimicked the Artisan Village look right down to the balconies!
The bottom line: if big bureaucracies like APS and the City of Phoenix can take creatives steps like these, there's hope for the city after all.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
The plague of downtown Phoenix continues
Before I moved back to Phoenix, I would drive around downtown and wonder why it looked the way it did with so many empty lots. Other cities with somewhat desolate downtowns usually just have a lot of empty buildings. But Phoenix is peculiar with its abundance of barren land right in the middle of its downtown.
Now I don't wonder where the vacant lots come from; I've come back and watched some of the lots appear. And just this week a new one popped up as a landowner decimated an entire block of vacant buildings at First Street and Portland, as pictured above. While I don't believe any of the buildings were necessarily "historic," they were somewhat old and could have been excellent homes to small businesses as downtown continued to rebound. But now they're gone, and in their place is just more infertile land, zoned for a high rise that may never be built.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Downtown links
There's good news for downtown Phoenix as 2009 gets underway, as light rail is meeting ridership expectations so far, even before ASU, Brophy, and Central High School students return to class. In addition, despite the gloomy economic times, downtown keeps adding more entertainment options as the Irish pub called the Turf Accountant gets ready to open its doors later this month. I also understand that Club Central, the midtown hip hop spot, is opening a branch at Second Avenue and Van Buren.
On the down side: the Boston Globe (at the very end of this story) speculates that sprawled-out cities like Phoenix have less potential then dense, urban places like London or Cambridge to develop intellectual breakthroughs, or even worse, pessimistic blogger Jon Talton calls Phoenix a "dead town walking" in the midst of the recession and housing market collapse.
On the down side: the Boston Globe (at the very end of this story) speculates that sprawled-out cities like Phoenix have less potential then dense, urban places like London or Cambridge to develop intellectual breakthroughs, or even worse, pessimistic blogger Jon Talton calls Phoenix a "dead town walking" in the midst of the recession and housing market collapse.
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