Archive for August, 2010

August 09, 2010

Saving the Sahara: Calling the Community to Undo a “Done Deal”

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet According to the Arizona Republic article today by Emily Gersema, Ramada Inn in Downtown Phoenix Days from Demolition, the $700,000 demolition of the old Sahara Hotel, currently a defunct Ramada Inn, is scheduled to happen later this month. Before we go into why this building is important and why it’s worth saving, let’s first visit the reason why it’s being demolished: The City of Phoenix is planning a $700,000 demolition to make room for overflow parking for the Sheraton Downtown Hotel while there are loads of empty lots all around downtown that would work just as well, not to…

August 04, 2010

The Phoenix Tree and Shade Master Plan: Restoring the Urban Forest

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Yesterday, I posted this quote on the Blooming Rock Facebook Fan Page: ‎“One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade.” – Clarence Darrow and I learned from Jo Marie McDonald, vice president of the Phoenix Community Alliance, that there is actually a Tree and Shade Master Plan in place for the City of Phoenix. The first step of this Master Plan is to raise awareness. To help with this, every Wednesday for the next month, I’ll be featuring parts of this document on the Blooming Rock blog. With the crippling budget cuts, the City is too understaffed and…

August 03, 2010

Mick Dalrymple on Interconnectedness and the Urgency of the Environmental Crisis

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet You may know Mick Dalrymple as one of the guys behind aka Green, the first-of-its-kind store that was a resource for green building materials and green education in Scottsdale. I know Mick as a leader in the local green building community. Coming from outside the building industry, Mick’s varied background has given him a wider perspective on what works and what doesn’t. Besides his unique perspective, I also appreciate Mick’s deep knowledge of green building. So many people now may go out and get a green building certification and call themselves experts while not really understanding the basics. But…

August 02, 2010

Critical Mass Phoenix Makes Room for Bikes on the Street

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet When I asked Mayor Phil Gordon at a community breakfast a year ago about the lack of bike lanes in Phoenix, he told me bikers should use the canals. Really Mayor? That’s your answer to why we have almost no infrastructure in place for bikes in this city? What if bikers want to use the roads, like everyone else? What if the canals don’t take people where they need to go? Biking has been flagrantly dismissed as a viable mode of transportation by our city ever since its modernization. Finally there’s an event in town that takes a stand…