November 09, 2010

Phoenix Bicycle Boulevard Update!

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet The Bicycle Boulevard is planned to start at the northeast part of the Gateway Community College campus. One entry point is the Grand Canal at 40th Street and Van Buren. The nearest Light Rail stops are 38th St. and Washington and 44th Street and Washington. Once you get on the Grand Canal, proceed northwest. A foot bridge will be built to get from the canal to Roosevelt Street. The path then heads west on Roosevelt all the way to 19th St, then south on 19th Street to either McKinley or Fillmore. There are three choices of where the Bike…

November 08, 2010

Eric Corey Freed Talks about the Urgent Need for Green Building

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Eric Corey Freed, licensed architect, LEED ap practices a very special brand of architecture called organic architecture out of his firm organicarchitect in San Francisco. Early in his career, Eric studied under an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright, gaining an appreciation for and adopting Wright’s philosophy of organic design. In his own practice, he has also become deeply involved in ecological and environmentally responsible architecture drawing from ancient design principles and new technological innovations. He has co-developed the Sustainability Programs at the Academy of Art University and the University of California Berkeley Extension. Eric is the author of four…

November 02, 2010

ASU and the City

by: J Seth Anderson

Tweet Today’s post is by J Seth Anderson, a fantastic writer, journalist and fellow urban advocate for the Valley. Seth (first name is John, but he has always gone by Seth) is not a Phoenix native but dang close! His favorite time of year is summer in Phoenix. Seth lives in a mid-century house in downtown Tempe although he lives and breathes downtown Phoenix historic preservation and development. He writes about downtown Phoenix, historic preservation, politics, and LGBT issues on his own blog Boy Meets Blog. Seth also writes for the new Downtown Phoenix Journal magazine debuting this Thursday, November…

November 01, 2010

Cultivating Direct Experiences and Propinquity in Phoenix

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet According to Carol Venolia in her article Real Time in Natural Home Magazine, modern day society is moving away from direct experiences, such as actually spending time with our friends, and moving more towards indirect experiences such as chatting online instead. This distancing from real experiences, the author argues, creates a less satisfying and perhaps somewhat of a distorted life. The idea of direct versus indirect experiences is very much tied into the concept of propinquity which was first introduced to me by Kevin Kellogg. Propinquity, if you’re unfamiliar with the word, “refers to the physical or psychological proximity…

October 27, 2010

A Design Review of Lola on Central

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Have you been to Lola Coffee on Central? I usually go there for meetings because it’s quieter than a lot of other coffee shops. The design of the space has never struck me as very special because there is a certain intimacy that’s missing from it. But today, when I took a closer look, I discovered that there are some cool design elements in the coffee shop. Just as a clarification, there is a Lola in Downtown, on Roosevelt and 4th Ave. Now that Lola has achieved the intimacy and richness that Lola on Central is missing, but I…

October 26, 2010

Small Steps Towards a Sustainable Remodel

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet A few months ago, when the rental unit at the Blooming Rock duplex 3 Palms became available, I got a call from a woman named Theresa who was very interested in the place. But she stipulated that she needed the lease to be on a month-to-month basis because she was moving here from Chicago and wanted to buy a house for the long term, instead of renting. Normally I wouldn’t entertain the idea of a month-to-month lease, but I was intrigued when she told me that she just got a tenured position at a university in a very interesting…

October 25, 2010

Craving Green Breathing Space in a Fast-Paced City

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Today’s post is a continuation of my series Learning from European Cities and I’d like to talk about the role of green space in urban life. In my past visits to European and South American cities, I’ve always been impressed by the green space embedded in their urban fabric in the form of beautiful, lush city parks. On my recent trip to Europe, I was particularly impressed with the green spaces in Brussels. This may partially be due to the fact that Paul and I stayed next to the Botanique, a beautiful and very old botanical garden right in…

October 19, 2010

Vantage Point: Fair Trade at the Civic Space Park

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet This afternoon I’m sitting at the Fair Trade Café at the Civic Space Park getting some work done before a meeting with Tony Arranaga, The Light Rail Blogger, Valerie Porter, and Suzanne Day of Valley Metro to help plan the next Valley Bike Month. If you’re a regular here at Blooming Rock, you know that if I’m not working at Lux Coffeebar, I’m working or meeting with someone at Giant Coffee. Rarely have I ventured south to this fair place, Fair Trade Cafe at Civic Space Park. As I sit here facing the courtyard, I’m struck by how darn…

October 15, 2010

Action Item: Love Dogs, Not Cars

by: Sean Sweat

Tweet Today on Blooming Rock we have a special Friday post by Sean Sweat about future plans for the Sahara Motel site that is slated to become a parking lot, but Sean has a better idea. Sean Sweat, aka @PhxDowntowner, is the Treasurer of St Croix Villas in the heart of downtown and an MIT-trained transportation professional. His professional focus is supply chain & logistics. His personal focus is pedestrianism, public transit, and multi-modal interactions. INTRODUCTION St Croix Villas needs your help. If you like any of the following things, you’ll want to help us: • Downtown Vibrancy • Pedestrianism…

October 13, 2010

Working at a Coffee Shop, a Microcosm of the Urban Experience

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet When I tell people I work at a coffee shop, many give me a quizzical look. They shake their heads and say, “I could never work at a coffee shop”. When I get specific and tell them I work at Lux Coffeebar, a coffee shop that is known for its music blaring within its bustling, crowded, dark cavern of a space, their minds are boggled. (As you’ve probably guessed, I’m at Lux as I write this post). I was speaking to a woman once and she was complaining about how when she goes to coffee shops, all she sees…