biking, transportation, urban development
Biking Leads to Leaner People and Leaner Cities
Today’s post is by Willard Williams Jr. (aka Beau), who used to work with me at an architecture firm in Phoenix and who is now a designer for a residential architect in San Francisco. Beau has more than six years of hands on experience with complex design tools, such as Building Information Modeling (BIM), expertise [...]
Continue Readingcommunity, economy, urban development
Downtown ASU Students are the Accidental Urban Pioneers
Today I gave a presentation at the Barrett Urban Experience, a 4-day intensive introduction to the downtown Phoenix urban environment for Barrett Honors College freshmen, a brainchild of Nan Ellin. Overall, the program is very well designed, including a public art tour, a trip to the Downtown Public Market, a discussion about community food by [...]
Continue Readingcommunity, economy, sustainability, urban forest, walking
Trees Improve Social Connections, Who Knew?
Today is the second installation in a month-long Wednesday series on The Phoenix Tree and Shade Master Plan. Last week I talked about the concept of the Urban Forest and why it’s important. Today I’m going to try to address this notion quoted in the Master Plan: “(The) General public has a limited understanding of [...]
Continue Readingcommunity, transportation, urban development, walking
Why Your Walk Score is More Important than Granite Countertops
Our new tenant, Theresa Devine, an interactive arts professor at ASU who just moved here from Chicago was telling me about Walk Score yesterday, a website that generates “a number between 0 and 100 that measures the walkability of any address”. She’s in the market to buy a house in Phoenix, our duplex is just [...]
Continue Readingcommunity, historic preservation, sustainability, urban development
Saving the Sahara: Calling the Community to Undo a “Done Deal”
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 [...]
Continue Readingcommunity, shading strategies, sustainability, urban development, urban forest
The Phoenix Tree and Shade Master Plan: Restoring the Urban Forest
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. [...]
Continue ReadingMick Dalrymple on Interconnectedness and the Urgency of the Environmental Crisis
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 [...]
Continue Readingbiking, community, design, transportation
Critical Mass Phoenix Makes Room for Bikes on the Street
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 [...]
Continue Readingdesign, sustainability, transportation, urban development
Phoenix Planning Manager Carol Johnson Reveals the Strategy for Downtown and the Light Rail Corridor
Below is my conversation with Carol Johnson, the Planning Manager at the City of Phoenix about what’s next in terms of codes, walkability and making our city more livable on the whole: Blooming Rock: What’s your position in the city? Carol Johnson: My title is Planning Manager. I oversee our long range planning division, that [...]
Continue Reading- Greg Stanton on Alternative Transportation and Historic Preservation in Phoenix
- Greg Stanton on Sustainable Economic Development in Phoenix
- Developing a Tree Fund is Crucial to the Future of Phoenix’s Urban Forest
- Mayor Gordon on his Legacy to Phoenix
- 10 Things You Should Know about the Upcoming Parking Lot at the Sahara Hotel
- Planting the Right Tree in the Right Place and Other Keys to a Healthy Urban Forest
- Plans for the First Bicycle Boulevard in Phoenix
- City Traffic Engineers Agree Phoenix is Not a Bike-Friendly Community
- Raising Awareness is a Key First Step towards Restoring the Urban Forest in Phoenix
- Biking Leads to Leaner People and Leaner Cities
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Taz Loomans: Will, Greg represented District 6 that includes no...
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Donna Reiner: Will-- Remember, we (Phoenix) are not those oth...
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Will Novak: Wow his support of the suicide lanes is really dis...
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Jacob: With all the hubbub surrounding the high-profile c...
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