Archive for December, 2010

December 29, 2010

Reverse Lanes Place Cars Above Community

by: Yuri Artibise

Tweet Today’s post is by the avid urbanist, community activist and my friend, Yuri Artibise. Yuri Artibise—aka the Incurable Urbanist—has spent the past four years creating community in the urban desert that is better known as Phoenix. Through his Yurbanism brand, Yuri explores the ‘Y’ of urbanism by sharing ways to make our cities more livable, community-oriented places one block at a time.  Find out more at yuriartibise.com. On December 14th Phoenix City Council voted 5-1 (with 2 absences) to accept the report of the Ad Hoc Task Force on Reverse Lanes. (A summary of the report is found at…

Continue reading

Tweet This is the first post in a new series called Car Free Stories which will document my various experiences riding my bike, taking transit and walking in Central Phoenix. Today I’d like to share two stories about my daily bike commute on the Grand Canal.  One is about an old bird named Bob and another about a new bird on the scene. An Old Bird Named Bob There is an old gentleman dressed in a track suit that walks for exercise on the canal.  I see him almost every day.  Once we realized we were regulars on the canal,…

Continue reading

December 27, 2010

6 Things Phoenix Could Learn from Bisbee

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet You may think Bisbee, AZ is just a podunk town in the middle of nowhere and what the heck could a big city like Phoenix learn from a no-place like that?  Well, to some people’s surprise, they get a whole lotta things right in Bisbee and we could take a few pointers from the tiny town here in our mega metropolis. 1. Go Local There’s a big emphasis on local in Bisbee. I know Bisbee is often seen as a tourist trap, but it’s not.  In fact, Bisbee has a very strong and loyal local population that makes sure…

Continue reading

December 22, 2010

“Yes Virginia, there is community in Phoenix”

by: Jim McPherson

Tweet Today’s post is by Jim McPherson, a dedicated and revered community leader here in Phoenix… A few months ago at Hob Nobs Coffee House I chatted with Russ Haan of After Hours Creative about the “ups and downs,” “twists and turns,” and “progress and pitfalls” of getting projects off the ground in downtown Phoenix.  In our conversation we rattled off a dozen or so, but later I got to thinking, “How many projects are we talking about?” Before I go any further, let me define “projects.”  It’s those “fine grain” projects, initiatives, events, and activities organized by individuals and…

Continue reading

December 21, 2010

Good News for Energy in 2011 from the New Tax Bill

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Many of the federal tax benefits for clean energy and energy efficiency were due to come to an end on December 31.  This was bad news for the green economy because these benefits are often what grease the wheels of clean energy and energy efficiency companies.  When these benefits expire, green energy companies suffer, contract or go out of business, taking countless green jobs with them.  Below is a list of 4 items that are seeing a benefit extension for another year which bodes well for the green economy (at least for another year): The Treasury Grant Program, a…

Continue reading

Tweet Recently I’ve met a few really talented architecture graduates that haven’t been able to find a job at a firm due to the depressed economy.  This may sound like an unfortunate thing, but it turns out that these brilliant graduates are making a much bigger difference right out of school then they ever could have if they just found a job at an architecture firm. An example of a very talented architecture graduate I’ve gotten to know this year is Cavin Costello.  He is a Master of Architecture graduate from Northeastern University in Boston and he came out to…

Continue reading

December 15, 2010

STUDIO 1to1

by: Evan Ward

Tweet Today’s post is by Evan Ward, a member of a new team of designers and architects called STUDIO 1to1.  STUDIO 1to1 actually started as an architecture thesis studio at ASU and has gone on to do some remarkable work with Transit Oriented Development planning around the Light Rail.  I was excited to meet Evan recently and asked him to write about the work of STUDIO 1to1. Evan Ward grew up in Holland, Michigan and has lived in Arizona since 2001.  He recently earned his M.Arch from Arizona State University.  Prior to grad school, he spent 5 years working for…

Continue reading

December 14, 2010

What Would Paolo Soleri Do?

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet “The mechanisms channeling life positively may consist of the replacement of comfort and security by joy.” – Paolo Soleri in his book Arcology: The City in the Image of Man This weekend was the public dedication of the bridge designed by Paolo Soleri in Scottsdale on the Waterfront.  I attended a special VIP reception before the public dedication and snapped a photo of the man himself.  The next day, I attended a lecture on Organic Architecture by Alan Hess and a panel discussion on Soleri’s Principles in Action that included Will Bruder, John Munier, Jeffrey Stein and Peter Zweig,…

Continue reading

December 08, 2010

What Cohousing can Teach Us about Urban Planning

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet About a year ago, I was asked to be a part of a cohousing effort here in Phoenix and everything that I learned about community-oriented design inspired me tremendously and has informed much of my thinking about neighborhoods and our city.  Cohousing is a very specific model of community living that was originally created in Denmark.  A cohousing community usually consists of around 12 to 36 units, is designed by a participatory process led by future residents, has extensive common facilities usually in the form of a common house and is ultimately managed by its residents. But there are…

Continue reading