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Originally Posted by muertecaza
Nice. I've been particularly hoping that this project and the Alta Marlette project get built and do well as proofs of concept for successfully assembling and demoing SFH properties in the core and building more urban multi-family.
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I wouldn't put Novel and Alta Marlette in the same category. Yes, both involve replacing some houses with multi-story apartments, but they couldn't be more different in terms of location. The Novel project is located inside the Reinvent Phoenix footprint and within walking distance of light rail. It's exactly what we need in terms of upzoning and increased density near high-capacity transit. Alta Marlette, on the other hand, is in a much more car-centric neighborhood several miles to the north. Few of its residents will take the 7th Street bus. Most will drive, and they'll have to navigate a single access point that is not governed by a traffic light. I expect congestion and collisions to increase in the area. I regularly ride my bicycle along Maryland Avenue right around the corner, and I'm bracing myself for more traffic there, particularly right-on-red-without-stopping-first from cars exiting Alta Marlette onto northbound 7th Street and then immediately turning onto eastbound Maryland. If 7th Street were improved with the elimination of the suicide lanes and the addition of bus rapid transit or a streetcar, I might feel differently, but with the 7s in their current state of hostility towards pedestrians, transit users, and even less aggressive drivers, I can't endorse increasing density there.