Edward Jensen

In these past couple weeks, I’ve been thinking about the things that have happened in 2013 in downtown Phoenix and how they shape its present as well as the next year in our community.  Re-read my observations on downtown’s strengths, weaknesses, and threats first before reading this finale post.

A DOWNTOWN PHOENIX YEAR-IN-REVIEW 2013: IV. OPPORTUNITIES

1. Arizona Center for Law and Society — As part of the growth of ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus, ASU administration is planning to move their Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law to downtown Phoenix in a new building, the Arizona Center for Law and Society.  The building will be a great asset to the growing University District in downtown Phoenix.  While many people bemoan the design of the building including its placement of an alumni-run law firm on the 1st Street sidewalk-level elevation, my chief concern is about how public the building will remain given ASU central administration’s desire to clamp down on access to their buildings, especially downtown.  Let’s get this building built before somebody changes their mind.

2. 1st Street Redesign — It is nice that the City is starting to think creatively about what to do with downtown streets.  The redesign of 1st Street from Washington to Hance Park is certainly eye-opening and also includes Phoenix’s first parklet (miniature park) near Garfield Street, outside Matt’s Big Breakfast.  The narrowing of one of downtown’s widest streets has made it possible for more non-automobile users to take advantage of that street but the stock of buildings and their non-engagement to the 1st Street streetscape makes it curious why that street was chosen as a demonstration project.  Still, though, progress is progress and it’s good that the City is looking at streets in a different light.

3. Rising Interest in Bicycling in Urban Phoenix — As 2013 closes, we are inching closer to becoming a good place to bicycle.  The City’s Street Transportation recently seated a twelve-member Bicycling & Pedestrian Ad Hoc Task Force (of which I am a member), of which one of its charges is to at the City’s new bicycling master plan in parallel with two national engineering firms specializing in bicycling infrastructure.  In addition, bicycle share is coming to central Phoenix in 2014.  While I believe that downtown’s adequate bicycle infrastructure should have been installed before bicycle share, I hope that this new citywide look at bicycling will usher in the much-needed improvements to downtown’s bicycling infrastructure.

4. New City Council Representatives for Districts 4 and 8 — Two of Phoenix’s council districts containing urban Phoenix will have new representation in January: Laura Pastor in District 4 (Midtown, Maryvale) and Kate Gallego in District 8 (Downtown East, Sky Harbor, South Phoenix).  I had the great opportunity to interview both of these women and so I am hopeful for what they will seek to accomplish in their first term.  Both Districts 4 and 8 contain neighborhoods that are truly coming into their own identities and I would hope that the new councilwomen can find the best way to work with the neighborhoods and celebrate the progress that has happened.

5. Setting the Stage for the 2015 Super Bowl — In February 2015, the world will descend to metropolitan Phoenix for the 49th annual playing of the NFL’s championship game. It’s a foregone conclusion that the game will be in Glendale at the University of Phoenix Stadium.  But it is supposed to be announced that the NFL’s major events will take place in downtown Phoenix and all that is happening here will be on the national and international stage.  This is a major opportunity for everyone here to put their best foot forward and I think everyone understands the stakes that are at hand.  I would hope that we look to tell downtown Phoenix’s story as this: urban living is celebrated here.

In these past couple weeks, I’ve been thinking about the things that have happened in 2013 in downtown Phoenix and how they shape its present as well as the next year in our community.  Yesterday, I discussed downtown’s weaknesses; in the finale tomorrow, I’ll share my assessment of downtown’s opportunities. On Thursday, I discussed downtown’s strengths.

A DOWNTOWN PHOENIX YEAR-IN-REVIEW 2013: III. THREATS

In the traditional SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis, on which this quartet of posts is modeled, a weakness is defined as something of internal origin that is harmful to organizational mission. I had a difficult time categorizing items that are weaknesses or threats (external origin) so this afternoon’s post should be read in concert with yesterday’s post.

1. Fallout from 2nd Street / Knipe House RFP — Like any good project downtown, the saga has been documented in many blogs, tweets, and Facebook posts.  (NB: I was retained by one of the proposing teams for the original RFP to provide technical advice.)  I won’t chime in too much on the topic because of that involvement but I know that time will certainly tell what happens with the project and how it might impact the Roosevelt Street district.  There has been a petition launched by one of the main people behind one of the non-selected projects to call on the City to reject the selected project.  Tempers and tensions are very high, understandably, but I hope the language being used surrounding this project (e.g., “the end is nigh for Roosevelt and downtown Phoenix”) is brought to a more civil — and reasonable — level.

2. Suburban vs. Urban Council District Divide — In recent years, and especially manifest in 2013, there has been a major divide in urban vs. suburban interests on the City Council.  The council has become, unfortunately, more anti-downtown and anti-urban.  The original plans for a large downtown biomedical campus have been retooled to share with all parts of Phoenix, especially near north Phoenix’s Mayo Hospital.  Mayor Greg Stanton was the lone dissenting vote to approve a large Circle K at the southeast corner of 7th Street and Roosevelt.  The proposed downtown observation structure, “The Pin,” was championed by a north Phoenix council representative.  To those people, our downtown is a playground for suburbanites.  While that might be okay to some point, it does very little for those who try to make and celebrate the urban experience in Phoenix. (I’ll write an essay on this in 2014.)

3. Phoenix’s Community & Economic Development Department (CED) Asleep at the Wheel — In 2013, we’ve learned of several major economic development projects that have gone to Phoenix’s suburb cities: a major Apple component subcontractor locating in southeast Mesa, State Farm and USA Basketball to Tempe, among others.  No mention was made of Phoenix, especially downtown Phoenix, even being in the running for these major endeavors.  If not, where was CED?  And, if so, what broke down?

4. Location and Site of “The Pin” — To great relief, it’s been announced that the proposed “The Pin” observation deck at Heritage & Science Park will not be happening.  This is a good thing, right, so why is it on the threats list?  People involved with “The Pin” have been scoping out other sites in downtown including, perhaps, as part of Hance Park’s redesign.  I would hope that this project has seen its last light: I am not a fan.

5. Relationship with the State of Arizona — At best, Phoenix has a tenuous relationship with our state government.  In recent months, though, it would seem that the relationship between Phoenix and Arizona has soured.  After Phoenix passed its LGBT non-discrimination ordinance in March, the State Legislature took up debate on trying to overturn Phoenix’s law.  In 2012, the State Legislature passed legislation that forced cities to have their municipal elections in even-numbered years; this year, a court overturned this law.  We’ve seen the ongoing sagas with the debates over solar power, women’s health rights, immigration reform and immigrants’ rights, and almost every other debate out there.  And then there’s perception.  Arizona is still plagued by the fallout from SB 1070 and all of the baggage that went along with that.  That perception is still alive elsewhere: as Washington State Representative Joe Fitzgibbon (D-Wash. LD 34) tweeted after the Arizona Cardinals upset the Seattle Seahawks last week: “Losing to a desert racist wasteland sucks a lot.”