Showing posts with label ASU Downtown Phoenix campus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ASU Downtown Phoenix campus. Show all posts
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?)
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
ASU students don't miss a chance to bash downtown
In a repeat of a story that was written in January 2007, the Republic spoke to several ASU students who were very dismissive of downtown Phoenix and the new ASU campus. The consensus, as it was in 2007, seems to be that "there's nothing to do downtown," and that there's no "campus feel."
In some ways, I can sympathize with the comments about the lack of a campus feel. When I looked at colleges, I definitely wanted the wide open green spaces of a traditional college campus; I couldn't imagine going to school at an urban campus like Boston University or NYU.
But I can't relate to the sentiment that there's nothing to do in downtown Phoenix. There's plenty to do if one looks hard enough-- granted, it's not spoon-fed to students like a walk down chain-laden Mill Avenue. And more than that, the ASU students who populate the downtown campus in 2008 need to be leaders who relish being urban pioneers. Instead of complaining, what about taking over a cool but unknown downtown bar like Seamus McCaffrey's or Lost Leaf on Wednesdays or Thursdays, and causing the rest of the city to take notice and follow along?
In some ways, I can sympathize with the comments about the lack of a campus feel. When I looked at colleges, I definitely wanted the wide open green spaces of a traditional college campus; I couldn't imagine going to school at an urban campus like Boston University or NYU.
But I can't relate to the sentiment that there's nothing to do in downtown Phoenix. There's plenty to do if one looks hard enough-- granted, it's not spoon-fed to students like a walk down chain-laden Mill Avenue. And more than that, the ASU students who populate the downtown campus in 2008 need to be leaders who relish being urban pioneers. Instead of complaining, what about taking over a cool but unknown downtown bar like Seamus McCaffrey's or Lost Leaf on Wednesdays or Thursdays, and causing the rest of the city to take notice and follow along?
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Duke Reiter leaves a mixed legacy at ASU
Leave it to the Arizona Republic to give nothing but glowing reviews to ASU's Wellington "Duke" Reiter, the former dean of ASU's college of design, who is headed to Chicago to take the top job at one of that city's universities.
However, I'm sure there are a lot of downtown Phoenix activists who are happy to see him leave.
Reiter did spearhead the development of ASU's downtown Phoenix campus, and he did prod the city of Phoenix to re-examine itself. He made a powerful comment a couple years back, stating-- and I paraphrase-- that it was an open question as to whether Phoenix would ever become a real city and not just an overgrown suburb.
But on the other hand, Reiter was 100% behind the decision to wipe out nearly all of the buildings on the site of what is now the Civic Space park. Only a public outcry spared the A.E. England building from the wrecking ball, and supposedly Reiter pulled some strings inside the City of Phoenix to pull the building off historic registers so that it could be demolished. (Of course, Reiter later took credit for preserving the building in a laughable bit of revisionist history). ASU downtown Phoenix also wiped out the Taylor Street bungalows.
And what did we get in return from the design dean? Some good and some bad, and a lot of question marks. The good: the ASU journalism building is a true city building that will feature a news zipper and a restaurant and enhance the streetscape. The bad, or at least the mediocre: the new Taylor Place dorms are pretty institutional-looking, and the nursing building was going to turn more blank walls to the downtown streets until another public outcry caused ASU to back off its variance requests. And the civic space park is a question mark (and the public art was installed by the city with the backing of the artist community-- and that almost bit the dust so that the park could open at the same time students return to ASU in fall 2008).
So Reiter's legacy includes helping get the ASU downtown campus off the ground, but also includes a lot of clear-cutting the little shreds of history Phoenix still has in favor of some mostly underwhelming university buildings. On balance, I can't say I'll miss the guy.
However, I'm sure there are a lot of downtown Phoenix activists who are happy to see him leave.
Reiter did spearhead the development of ASU's downtown Phoenix campus, and he did prod the city of Phoenix to re-examine itself. He made a powerful comment a couple years back, stating-- and I paraphrase-- that it was an open question as to whether Phoenix would ever become a real city and not just an overgrown suburb.
But on the other hand, Reiter was 100% behind the decision to wipe out nearly all of the buildings on the site of what is now the Civic Space park. Only a public outcry spared the A.E. England building from the wrecking ball, and supposedly Reiter pulled some strings inside the City of Phoenix to pull the building off historic registers so that it could be demolished. (Of course, Reiter later took credit for preserving the building in a laughable bit of revisionist history). ASU downtown Phoenix also wiped out the Taylor Street bungalows.
And what did we get in return from the design dean? Some good and some bad, and a lot of question marks. The good: the ASU journalism building is a true city building that will feature a news zipper and a restaurant and enhance the streetscape. The bad, or at least the mediocre: the new Taylor Place dorms are pretty institutional-looking, and the nursing building was going to turn more blank walls to the downtown streets until another public outcry caused ASU to back off its variance requests. And the civic space park is a question mark (and the public art was installed by the city with the backing of the artist community-- and that almost bit the dust so that the park could open at the same time students return to ASU in fall 2008).
So Reiter's legacy includes helping get the ASU downtown campus off the ground, but also includes a lot of clear-cutting the little shreds of history Phoenix still has in favor of some mostly underwhelming university buildings. On balance, I can't say I'll miss the guy.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Adios
These little bungalows on Taylor Street near Second Street aren't long for this world. Soon, an ASU-powered wrecking ball will deal these 90-year old buildings their fate. While preservationists are aware of this, there won't be any Sun Merc-style lawsuits or A.E. England-type behind-the-scenes politicking to save these low-profile buildings. So I figured I'd put a picture of them in this space before they make way for two ASU dorms.
For those keeping score, ASU has now taken out at least six single-story downtown Phoenix buildings while the downtown Phoenix campus is constructed. It's too bad a few of these couldn't be integrated into the campus as a reminder of the city's history. They're functional and could be used to house small businesses or ASU offices. But that's not ASU's model.
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