Quote:
Originally Posted by Jjs5056
I'm sure all businesses would love to have a parking lot in front of their main entrance. Phoenix is, and will always be, a city that values the automobile over pedestrians and alternative forms of transportation.
By changing the zoning of the Central corridor decades ago to encourage high rise development, and by building the city's initial light rail rote down the street, Phoenix chose to transform Midtown from what was once a suburban neighborhood with single-family homes into an extension of our urban core. With that choice should have come the consequence of ensuring that the built environment be carefully planned to meet urban design standards and best practices. That includes things like shifting the focus away from car-oriented features.
Businesses chose to open, or stay, in the Midtown area with the knowledge that this is an urban neighborhood and I think it's absolutely ridiculous that their (and their patrons') old-school attitudes and unwillingness to accept change are being catered to at the expense of creating a vibrant and active part of the city.
Light rail will never succeed and decaying parts of the city like Midtown won't ever revitalize, if this kind of practice is allowed and accepted. If a business finds it can only thrive in a suburban setting, then it needs to pack up and move to the suburbs. That we are saying no other business would demand a surface lot makes this even more insulting - why is a project being developed with the wishes of 1 tenant being prioritized over the long term benefits of the city and community? Let the market decide if that space should continue to house Alexi's or not.
Midtown will never develop an identity or purpose if this kind of practice continues. The Biltmore area and Old Town will always be more attractive for those wanting a faux urban experience... Why would I move to, or visit, Midtown? It is turning its back on the things that could define it... Being so close to downtown and other amenities, and being right on the light rail gives it the potential to provide a real urban experience. But, that experience won't ever materialize if there's more cars idling than pedestrians walking.
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Yes, Phoenix is never going to become more urban. The setback and parking requirements will ensure that Phoenix will remain auto dependent. It shocks me to see new restaurants and stores going up around the city that still require any pedestrians to enter through a side parking lot or cross a drive thru. Looking at older pictures of Phoenix (1950s-1970s) it seems that Phoenix has actually become more suburban over the years. Parallel parking has been eliminated on many streets in favor of more travel lanes, buildings that were built with the pedestrian in mind have been torn down for the same stores (Walgreens on 7th Ave and Camelback for example) with either walls or parking lots blocking off direct pedestrian access, and the general lack of architecture diversity among developers here have all contributed to making Phoenix the most anti-urban major city in the country.
Midtown only exists because of developers interest in duplicating the Wilshire Boulevard corridor in LA here in Phoenix. This city has never cared for anything beyond developer proposals. I'm sure in the 1960s, the idea of devoting an entire corridor to high rise development was exciting for the city (growing skyline symbolizes a growing economy), for developers (profit, profit, profit), and for residents (transformation of their small city into a large city). However, no one seemed to looked much beyond the development proposals. Mixed use and walkability factors were non-factors back then and are barely taken into consideration now. They were non factors all the way through 1990 or so when the last major high rise was constructed. It was all about catering to the developer. It is nearly impossible to come in now and retrofit what has been done.
The residents of Midtown have a significant amount of power. Notice all of the walls from McDowell north to Thomas that prevent through vehicular traffic on east-west streets. Most care nothing about anyone's desire to make the area vibrant and active. There is no way for the city to just ignore the objections of surrounding neighborhoods and completely change the character of the Central Corridor. People in those areas would quickly use their money to vote out as many as those politicians as possible.
People pining for an "urban" lifestyle in this city should focus on Downtown Phoenix, Downtown Tempe, and possibly Downtown mesa. Those are the only areas in which developers actually have backing of residents to build anything remotely urban. Old Town Scottsdale will not get more urban because of the influence of neighborhood east of Old Town and the anti-urban city council.
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