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!

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.