Tweet Today’s post is by contributing writer Feliciano Vera: Her extended finger was proof enough. Dorina Bustamante was pissed at me. Not that I should have been surprised. She and I have had an ongoing argument about Arcadia for the better part of at least a year. Fortunately for me, the only people that could see her gesture were sitting next to me – fellow presenters at one of Rob Izer and Kirby Hoyt’s Funk Series earlier in the year. Walking in one of its aspirant satellites (Arcadia Lite? South Arcadia? We Really Want to Be Arcadia?) on a recent…

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Tweet Today’s post is by contributing writer Ryan Glass: Sure, the “signature pop-culture event of the southwest” is typically designed for fans, but it’s also a great time to show off that super power you’ve been diligently keeping under wraps.  While everyone else is gaming, watching sci-fi panels, and generally flying their geek flag at full mast, you’ve got bigger problems to handle.  Sure, we all try to go through our day-to-day just maintaining our secret identities, but as you know, with great power comes great responsibility. (Beware, continuing to read presumes that you do indeed possess some sort of…

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Tweet Today’s post is by Stacey Champion. Stacey, based in Phoenix, AZ, is the owner of Champion PR + Consulting, Champion Indoors, LLC, is the organizer of Rogue Green (a monthly sustainability group) and is a community activist and blogger.  She can be reached at champion@cox.net or through Twitter – @ChampPR & @RogueGreen.  She was also recently named as co-chair of the Sustainability Advisory Committee for Mayor Greg Stanton. My Story: In mid-March, I found out about SB1507 from a friend and colleague while in class at the Sonoran Sustainable Building Advisor Program (which I ironically, was able to attend tuition-free through a Federal green jobs training…

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May 15, 2012

Confessions of an SB1507 Opponent

by: Mick Dalrymple

Tweet Today’s article is by Mick Dalrymple. Mick is a local green building and sustainability expert and filmmaker who has lived in Arizona for 38 years. Since writing and reading this article, he has vowed to get more humor back into his life. The Arizona Legislature recently ended its 50th session, to the great relief of many. The session paralleled the spectacular train wreck scene in 8MM, except that aliens (or at least bills from outer space) popped out of the train continuously throughout the entire crash and burn extravaganza. SB1507, a.k.a. the “anti-sustainability bill”, was but one grotesque example….

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Tweet Today’s post is by Feliciano Vera: “We should hold a wake, y’know.  I mean, the body is still warm and everything.  May help with closure,” read the text from my friend. Word about the closure of the Urban Grocery and Wine Bar at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market spread like wildfire last Friday.  Occupying nearly every casual conversation I had over the weekend, the news nearly derailed work originally scheduled for the week – how do we save the market?  What happened?  Who was to blame? I never pretended to have the answers, other than to say consistently that…

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Tweet Recently I interviewed Jim McPherson and J. Seth Anderson about their new book – Downtown Phoenix – published by Arcadia Publishing about the history of downtown Phoenix. (Suad Mahmuljin, the third co-author of the book, could not be present for the interview.) Below is our conversation:   Photo Credit: A shot of my autographed copy of Downtown Phoenix. Photo by the author.

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May 02, 2012

A Field Guide to Activating Place

by: Kirby Hoyt

Tweet Today’s post is by contributing writer Kirby Hoyt: A while back I was asked to present at the Phoenix Urban Research Lab (PURL) during the Phoenix Urban Design Week at an event called “PURL Jam” wherein 20 slides were to be shown each with a 20 second time limit. The topic was “Activating Space.” After procrastinating for weeks as I usually do, I finally came upon an idea I thought worthy of 400 seconds of the audiences’ time. The concept was based on one of my favorite contemporary artists, Mark Dion. I’d seen one of his pieces a few…

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Tweet Today’s post is by City of Phoenix Traffic Engineer Kerry Wilcoxon giving us an update on plans for the Bicycle Boulevard and an extension of the Central Avenue Road Diet. Note that the extension of the Central Avenue Road Diet is still under evaluation, so if you are in favor of it, please contact your council person and express your support! Fillmore Bicycle Boulevard The Bicycle Boulevard is intended to provide an east west connection between Washington and I-10 from the Grand Canal to 15th Avenue. When completed this would allow bicyclists to travel from Tempe to Glendale through…

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Tweet Today’s post is by contributing writer Will Novak: I recently had the pleasure of driving across a large section of our country as I moved back home to Phoenix from Boston. Driving across the country in Spring was great and as a sports fan I had baseball on the mind. Along the way I was able to check out some stadiums as well as the urban neighborhoods around them. With at least 81 home games a year, baseball is an ideal sport to be played in a dense, active area. Unlike football, baseball is played frequently, causing a constant…

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Tweet Today’s post is by contributing writer Feliciano Vera: “Look, I may not have ridden my bike here, but at least I’m ready to,” I tell Joe Perez, as I point to my calf, unashamed. “I’m thinking it’s time to break out the clippers,” Joe replies. An army of bike enthusiasts surrounded us at Kitchen Sink Studios.  Did somebody forget to tell the hundreds assembled at the inaugural Pedal Craft that today was only the third Friday of April – too early for the monthly Critical Mass ride?  Were they here for the beer? Art? They were out because of…

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