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I dunno, just a thought. |
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I think maybe a big part of it is shade and trees. If you make the Downtown core the shadiest, most walkable, most misted, well awned (is that a phrase? I'm trying to say, 'place with most awnings'), et cetera place in town I think thats the 1st big step that the City itself can take. Put in the infrastructure for the pedestrian lifestyle, even if there's not a super abundance of places to walk yet, and maybe it'll all grow from there. Quote:
I agree that it would be nice to see Park Central have more retail. I'd love that parking lot out front to be turned into a park/square ("Park Central Square" perhaps) with towers (20-ish stories) to the North & South with retail on the bottom floor. That area could be one of the best spots for grocery and other large-ish scale retail in the Central core. E: Regarding turning Park Centrals surface lot into a great public space for Midtown, check out this awesome planned public square for Masdar, UAE: http://inhabitat.com/lavas-winning-d...darcitycenter/ Those giant lilipad shade structures are reminiscent of FLW's Johnson Wax Bldg and more locally of the 44th St/Walter Bimson Valley National Bank and its 'mushrooms'. Those pads open during the day & close at night, I imagine they could be closed during the nice winter months to allow more sun into the plaza too. |
Making downtown more friendly at the human level would help bring more uses of all kinds. That means shade here. It's hard to convince businesses or people to move to an urban environment, which is supposed to be pedestrian friendly, when the weather can be so oppressive. Plus, shading is very cheap compared to the other silver bullets we keep trying.
Midtown office is in rough shape. Many firms are moving downtown due to the cheap rents and proximity to the courts. Then the midtown offices just sit vacant. As for cheap midtown rents, I can tell you that my building (3003 central) is just as expensive, if not more, than comparable buildings downtown. For so long there was such an aversion to downtown that midtown was actually cheaper. That's how so many law firms ended up in midtown and are only now going back downtown due to new class a buildings and an improved perception of downtown overall. I don't agree with the perception, but for many years lawyers wanted midtown because their clients perceived it as nicer/safer/cleaner/more expensive than downtown. Park Central is the only realistic option for large-scale retail in the core. In this economic client, it will be far easier to revamp the existing large-scale buildings on that site rather than build all new somewhere else. |
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I also used to work at Park Central (did you by chance work for United Healthcare, Downtown Dweller?) and the lack of things to eat (within a certain price range) around there drove me nuts. If I wanted decent food for lunch, I had to go either up to Camelback or closer to Downtown, which took a significant chunk of time off my lunch break factoring in traffic and other miscellaneous issues.
And yeah, I used to send packages from the post office near the Safeway on 7th and Osborne. That area's gone to hell (Indian School looks worse). I'm not sure if it would be easy or cheap to turn Park Central back into a retail center. The interior is a clusterfuck of weird corridors and oddly-proportioned offices. |
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Weird corridors and offices are easier and cheaper than new buildings. For all the offices in the area, Park Central is extremely light on retail and restaurants. One can only eat Thai Basil so much.
On top of that, you have all the nearby historic neighborhoods that need and would support larger-scale retail that they now travel to Colonnade/Town & Country for. If Park Central will be empty, it seems very logical to replace the office with the original intended use of retail. Back to the discussion about 7th Ave and McDowell, I keep riding by on my bike, and I still don't see anything going on at all. |
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Didn't pay any attention to that this morning. I'll look on my way back home. What's going on there (or is that what you are asking)?
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Ashley Harder recently bought it and is going to turn it into a unique space with 2-3 (probably 3) merchants. Probably a blend of food & retail; she's still nailing down those details.
She's had a "housewarming" for it -- hosted a Radiate -- opened for First Friday with 4 artists, a food truck, and multiple table vendors -- and is having Short Leash there for lunch every Wednesday (as in *now*) this summer. |
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Horne Building at 7th Ave & McDowell
I walked over by the building today at about 3 PM and there was no construction. The inside looks the same as it did a few weeks ago. It's completely gutted and looks like it's ready for something to move in but no work is being done.
http://i51.tinypic.com/rh1q80.jpg http://i51.tinypic.com/1zdskl1.jpg http://i55.tinypic.com/2d8jsy0.jpg http://i52.tinypic.com/2ztkj77.jpg |
And that's how it has looked for months. The only work that I've seen since Horne apparently sold the building last fall is the jack-hammering of a small portion of the facade on the north side of the building.
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Does anyone know if there is parking at the Flagstaff Amtrak station? I've googled it and can't find a definitive answer.
I'm thinking of taking Amtrak to Kansas City this fall for a wedding. |
Yeah, there's long-term parking there, but not much. There's also a couple of city-run parking lots near the station, but one's currently closed for renovation (stupid, I know...), and I'm not sure how long the city would let you keep your car parked there.
Beyond the novelty of travelling cross country by train, why not just fly? PHX to MCI is only a two hour flight. |
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I took the California Zephyr last year from Elko Nevada to Reno and I didn't want the train ride to end. |
The ride from flag to Kansas city is longer than that. It will seem like it's never going to end.
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It'd be cheaper to fly (even in spite of airline prices spiking thanks to rising fuel costs). Hell, it'd probably be cheaper to drive. Personally, I don't have the time or patience to travel for that long. I'd rather get to my destination as quickly (and hassle-free) as possible.
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^ I think taking a train would be cool. I hate flying now and would prefer never to get on another airplane.
--don |
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That's a lot more fun than it has any right to be, as far as hypothetical nuclear destruction is concerned.
So I might be heading down to Phoenix for a concert next week at US Airways Center, but I'm not sure if I'm better off finding parking Downtown somewhere (not sure where, I haven't driven Downtown for any length of time in nearly three years) or if I'm better off using light rail via park-n-ride (used to take the light rail into Downtown from 42nd/Washington when I lived in Ahwatukee, but I'm coming south on I-17 from Flagstaff). If I park downtown, shall I play it safe and use the garage mahal or are there better parking locations that I don't know about? |
just drive to where the concert is (I'm assuming USAC or Dodge.) How much is parking, $10? by the time you park the car, wait for a train, buy a ticket, and walk, you will be better off just to pay the damn parking fee.
If you must ride the train, park at 19/Montebello which is just a mile from the Bethany exit off I-17. |
Why pay for parking at all? If you're going to drive anyhow just park in a non metered spot downtown, there are plenty of them. Along the Portland Street parkway by Portland Square apartments is all free. Garfield between Central and 1st is free and there's lots more if you look. You can then just walk to where you're going or hop on the train for a few stops and either pay like a good boy or be a rebel and hop you don't get caught since you're only going a few stops.
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I'm not questioning whether or not the walk can be done. Lord knows I can handle that walk since I bicycle 100 miles a week, but does that mean I want to? I don't want to arrive to the event covered in sweat and I don't want to plan extra time for the walk just to save $10
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I take the train downtown these days, but I used to park at Renaissance Square's parking garage for baseball and concerts. It used to be that they opened the garage arm somewhere between 9 and 10p, and nobody was in the parking booth after that. So as long as you were staying into the evening for your event, you could park completely free downtown.
As for free parking on Garfield, I am fortunately at a place in life where I can afford $10, but before that, it was the RS garage. |
oh yah speaking of garages with arms up, the garage facing VB on the other side of 44 Monroe, where Sonoma is (was?) is usually free after 8pm I think it is.
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yeah that garage is a good place to get away with parking for free. Unfortunately, it's also a great place for a theif to get away with something from your car for free, and that elevator scares the crap out of me.
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I believe all the city garages are free after 8 PM, or technically free if you leave after 8 PM. If the arm goes up and you haven't paid yet, you aren't obligated to.
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I'd really rather not take the light rail, just seems like more hassle since I'm not able to leave Flagstaff until at least 4pm (concert starts at 7:30), and I hate getting out of the garage mahal after an event (there's a Dbacks game that night as well). I'll see what I can do, guys. Thanks for the heads up |
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If the concert is not until 7:30, and you aren't arriving super early, just take a bunch of quarters and use a meter.
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Arpaio's Proterster's Counter-Protesters made it out in full force from Sun City this Friday.
http://i51.tinypic.com/1ovxwo.jpg http://i54.tinypic.com/f1y3dd.jpg |
Wow.......
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7th Avenue and McDowell
I walked over to Pei Wei at 7th and McDowell tonight for dinner (Sunday) at about 8pm. The place was packed and people kept coming in after me. If Pei Wei is that busy on a Sunday night then a Chipotle across the street would be a gold mine!
Those buildings on the east side of 7th Ave need to fill up! :cheers: |
If you're interested I wrote another article thats on Blooming Rock today. Its about PHX's current Weak Mayor/Council Manager type of system and my position that we should switch to a Strong Mayor/Mayor Council system.
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Here's a cool article on the history of architecture in the Valley:
http://www.azcentral.com/centennial/architecture/ |
Check out this crazy picture of the Salt River by the airport...
http://www.brazilbrazil.com/p1/skyharbor_flood3.jpg More here... http://www.brazilbrazil.com/skyharbor.html |
^Dang, thats awesome. We really need water in the river from Town Lake over to 19th or 27th Ave. I bet it would help with the heat island in addition to spurring development and being beautiful.
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Holy shite, that is an awesome pic. It looks like the mighty Yangtze.
Why must Phoenix and the civic leadership we have suck so much? If only we could have a nice Salt River (tamed a bit via SRP) through the City, rather than a massive open wound of utter desolation. If only we could (have) preserve(d) our historic core, rather than tear everything down for barren dusty ugly lots. If only we could have kept our nice shade trees all over the city, and continue to plant new ones, rather than let what we have rot and die, shrivel up and die, or cut them down altogether (anyone notice APS out in the City cutting back nice big trees away from the overhead utility lines? Is it a fire hazard or something? It looks disgusting... nice spherical huge tree crowns chopped straight down the middle into spindly 'Y' shapes). If only our planners and zoning laws through time wouldn't cater directly to suburban uses and forms. If only blah blah blah... basically our city is utter shit compared to what it could be. |
This City needs a facade rehabilitation program. Tucson's seems quite successful, I've read that even the City of Peoria is trying to strenghten some type of program. The City of Phoenix REALLY needs to connect better with its history. Having a few more historic buildings around town would be a blessing (there are many that are hiding in plain sight).
Who could be contacted at the City to try to push something like this along? Mayor? Councilman? Historic Preservation Office? |
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Anyone seen this site before?:
http://www.connectingphoenix.com/ Its a project headed up by Kevin Kellogg. Here's a video trailer to sort of show what its about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=VfncErqsNmI E: Whoa, just noticed that my barber, "Fast Eddie" is in the video. |
I'll have to take a look at that later...iPad = No Flash.
On a different note, what's up with us having what seems like really shitty luck with big sporting events and the weather? When we got the Super Bowl a few years back, everyone I'm sure expected nice sunny skies and mild temps. While the temps were mild compared to the Eastern cities, it was pretty cold and it rained or was overcast. Now with the All Star game, people will expect the hot but dry heat they hear about but instead it looks like we'll have low 100s with 40+ humidity and 65+ dew point. |
^^^^ The site is basically about TOD, station design along the LRT, etc. They're starting with Central/Osborn for the first place to do station design. I filled out a survey a while back that I think was listed here on the forum somewhere about the station design for that intersection.
While its nice that this sort of thing is finally being done, it really should've been done a long time ago in the 10 year planning phase of LRT. We're way behind the 8 ball now and need to get as much of this done so when the economy does finally bounce back we have the systems in place for new growth to be infill and not on the fringes. |
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