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Originally Posted by ASUSunDevil
I love what Tempe has done on the commercial aspect of development, and I agree it's absolutely on fire. Who wouldn't want to work in Downtown Tempe (hot college girls and tons of food options)?
The problem is that young professionals don't want to live in Downtown Tempe because the "cool" living options aren't there (unless they can afford a $2800 per month 2 bed on the lake). Shutting down Farmer Arts to please a few nimby's speaks volumes to the cities lack of residential vision. I can feel the trend because I live in the middle of it; all of my friends are headed towards Central Phoenix. I will be first in line to sign a lease at Circles
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I agree. I don't think it's a case of people being fickle or being persuaded/dissuaded by a couple of projects on either end. Having spent an entire weekend in each of the two downtowns for the first time in a while, the change in vibes for both is most definitely real. A little over a year ago, the area between Roosevelt St and CityScape was pretty much dead beyond ASU. With the wave of adaptive reuse running south to Fillmore and the new entertainment/dining options now surging in the most urban downtown blocks (Monroe and Adams), downtown now has a really good mix of commercial activity that is almost 24-7 before any of the residential projects have opened. Flood the streets with 1,000+ residents, and the holes will start to fill in and redevelopment will occur.
Tempe, OTOH, has more concentrated "energy," but in my upper 20's, I felt a little out of place and, of course, once you step off Mill, it's a ghost town. Back in the boom, there were great plans that would expand the energy of Mill east and west and create a real downtown, but that isn't a vision that has been implemented or supported. The lakefront and ASU's district will build up, but they're pretty suburban in design and there just isn't much land left in the core of downtown for the trend to turn back. Filling in a few lots with 5-story market rate apartments will never provide the amount of density being built already downtown Phx.
It's too bad Mackay is a quack and obsessed with proving that she 'turned around Midtown,' and has now added the Warehouse District to her agenda, because downtown really needs jobs now. That State Farm complex in downtown Phoenix would've been awesome - and there would have been residential options for the workers to live in.