[soleri]

Phoenix has squandered an untold amount of tax dollars trying to revive its old downtown. Most of that money went to lollapalooza-style projects - sports arenas, convention centers, parking garages, and shopping centers that only served to emphasize Phoenix's pointlessness as a city. Still, 10 years ago, there was an uptick in the quality of those urban Hail Mary passes. The city put in a light rail system. Then ASU set up a satellite campus downtown. Today, there are huge residential infill projects downtown and the central city. There's even a burgeoning nightlife in the Roosevelt Row neighborhood. It's still a long way from being interesting but by comparison to 20 years ago, it's been a remarkable renaissance. The few civic assets Phoenix has are mostly in and near downtown - the museums, library, theaters and concert halls. I would wish for better architecture in the new construction - much of it is cheap and forgettable. But for a city whose urban pulse was mostly an ill-founded rumor the current transformation is nearly stunning.