September 24, 2012

What’s Around Housing in Phoenix’s Urban Core Matters!

by: Ryan Glass

Tweet Why does it seem like developers drop down an apartment building in the urban core and overlook the rest of the area within walking distance. Do they expect that what’s around it won’t really matter to (potential) residents? It’s lease renewal time at Casa Awesomesauce (population 2 humans and 1 troublesome puppy), thus we’ve been looking around and weighing our options before committing to another 12 months at our current residence. Truth be told, there have been a few interactions with the new management company that didn’t go the way we would have liked them to, and for the…

September 19, 2012

Historic Preservation Commission Unanimously Recommends Landmark Designatation for the David Wright House

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Yesterday afternoon as a full house with an electric atmosphere at the Historic Preservation Commission meeting at Phoenix City Hall, surprising many of the commissioners who’re used to seeing only a handful of seats taken at these meetings. Everyone was there for the landmark designation recommendation for the David Wright House. It’s a no brainer that the David Wright House is worthy of a landmark designation, but the rub lies in that the owner has not given permission for this designation. And in Phoenix, we don’t normally go through with a historic preservation designation without the owner’s approval due…

September 07, 2012

My Speech: From Architect to Community Developer

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Yesterday, I gave a talk to the School of Geographic Sciences and Urban Planning Brown Bag Lunch Series. The talk is about how I went from being an architect to becoming a community developer. I thought I’d share it with you: When I was 8 years old I named my 2 goldfish Gorbechev and Reagan. I remember being an avid watcher of the news back then, shortly after my family emigrated here from Mozambique. I was mesmerized by the Iran Contra Affair, learning about places like Nicaragua and people like Oliver North and John Pointdexter. This was my first…

August 29, 2012

The Lost Art of Browsing – Why We Need a Good Bookstore in Central Phoenix

by: Feliciano Vera

Tweet Today’s post is by contributing writer Feliciano Vera: I did not notice her when she boarded the bus. She was nondescriptly dressed, as was her friend. Not quite hipster casual, nor professional. I still have no idea what she looked like. Cute, I imagine. In all likelihood she worked at either Pixar or Novartis or one of the myriad number of companies that call Emeryville, California home. Maybe it was my old-fashioned commuter etiquette – wherein one keeps to oneself – but she could easily have been one of a thousand other women that were taking the train or…

August 27, 2012

Five Favorite Places in Phoenix

by: Douglas Towne

Tweet Today’s post is by Doug Towne as previously published in the Society for Commercial Archeology Journal. Doug is one of my favorite writers in town and when he wrote me an email that started with “I’ve decided you’re a nobody in this town until you’ve guest blogged on Blooming Rock,” I knew I had to publish one of Doug’s wonderful pieces. An idyllic evening spent at the former Ward’s Motel on East Van Buren Street was, fittingly, the setting for Doug’s first overnight stay in Phoenix in 1986. Captivated by the dichotomy of the strip’s neon splendor and its…

August 23, 2012

Why the Grand Avenue Rail Project is a Solution Multiplier

by: Kirby Hoyt

Tweet Today’s post is by contributing writer Kirby Hoyt: Historically, cities have been designed around their prevailing modes of transportation. When Phoenix was first conceived, there were two modes of transportation: the train (for long distance and shipping) and the horse-and-buggy (for local and hauling needs). The streets in Phoenix were designed in a grid that emanated from the railroad depot and ancillary buildings, kind of a play on the Law of the Indies. Within six years of the incorporation of Phoenix, the beginnings of an extensive streetcar system was put in place, with the first streetcar operating on six…

August 20, 2012

Why the Grand Avenue Rail Project is Vital to Phoenix’s Economic Development

by: Bob Graham

Tweet Today’s post is by Bob Graham, president of the Grand Avenue Rail Project. For the last two years, steady progress has been made on the establishment of the Grand Avenue Rail Project (GARP). The project is envisioned as a way to use certain existing resources to create an attraction that will revitalize the Lower Grand Avenue business district. Awareness of GARP has grown in the downtown community, and we have received many positive comments. In this article, I will give a brief summary of the project for those who are not familiar with GARP, and follow that with the…

August 16, 2012

Brain drain! Everyone is leaving Phoenix! Why Now?!

by: Marshall Shore

Tweet Today’s post is by Marshall Shore, in response to my article, Why is Everyone Leaving?. Marshall Shore is the HIPstorian whose passion is uncovering interesting bits and curiosities from our past: the semi-forgotten people, places, and events that have made us who we are today. As the official “Unofficial Phoenix Historian,” he uses storytelling magic, found film footage, old photographs, ephemera and artifacts, to bring our past to life in entertaining, educational presentations, and tours. While sitting at Fair Trade with Lourdes Lee Vasquez, talking about the September premiere of the movie The Immigrant Paradox at the Orpheum the…