May 24, 2010

3 Phoenix Events Profess that Newer and Bigger is Not Better

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet This weekend I attended 3 awesome events whose message is summarized in the video I’ll share with you at the end of this post. The first event is the Places, Spaces and Faces Community Dinner. This event brings people together to share food, ideas and stories in historically or architecturally significant buildings in Phoenix. This monthly event was founded by Kathleen Bartolomei, Yuri Artibise and me and now is organized by two new community members every month. This month’s event was held at the Hotel San Carlos and featured a presentation by Robert Melikian, who’s family owns the hotel. …

May 20, 2010

Why Arizona Owes a Great Debt to Frank Lloyd Wright

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet In my previous post, What is the Arizona School, I mentioned that Frank Lloyd Wright was the father of the Arizona School, a term coined by Reed Kroloff for the style of architecture unique to this Place – the desert. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of taking a tour of Taliesin, Wright’s farm, residence and school complex in Spring Green, WI. Farm building at Taliesin – now used as residence space for students This tour gave me a deeper perspective on what Wright was working on before he made Scottsdale his winter home and embarked on a new style…

May 17, 2010

Why Phoenix Could Learn from Milwaukee’s Neighborhoods

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet This week I’m traveling in Milwaukee, WI visiting family. One of the best parts of traveling is that it gives you a fresh perspective on what’s back home. The prevailing trend is that people from the midwest move to sunny Arizona because of the weather and the promise of a new start. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a whole lot that’s right in the midwest that Arizona could learn from. So during my stay in Milwaukee, I’ve been thinking about what Phoenix can learn from this city. One of the big differences I’ve seen is in the…

May 12, 2010

Why Solar Gardens are a Perfect Fit for Phoenix

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet The Community Solar Garden Bill is about to be signed in Colorado by it’s governor, Bill Ritter. This bill essentially allows homeowners to buy into a share of a Community Solar Garden. A solar garden is similar to a windmill farm, but on a smaller scale. It’s a place that houses a number of solar arrays that generate enough power that can be distributed to many different households. It’s aimed at people who can’t install solar panels on their rooftops for whatever reason. They may be renting, may live in a condominium, may have a roof that’s in shade,…

May 11, 2010

Help Cash for Caulkers pass the Senate!

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet The Cash for Caulkers bill, or the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act, was approved by the House on Thursday May 6 and is expected to pass the Senate this summer. What is it? Cash for Caulkers is similar to Cash for Clunkers where you get an instant rebate for making energy efficiency improvements to your home. There are two levels of rebates you can get: 1. For the the Silver Star, consumers would be eligible for rebates between $1,000 and $1,500 for a variety of home upgrades, including adding insulation, sealing leaky ducts and replacing water heaters, HVAC units,…

May 10, 2010

Another Phoenix Infill Lot Wasted on a Circle K

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet I’ve been driving by this new building in construction the past few months. It’s on 11th St. and Indian School. My first thought when I found out what it was was – oh great, all we need in this city is another Circle K. There’s hardly anything getting built nowadays and for good reason, we have way too many existing buildings waiting to be reused. And one of the few new buildings is a Circle K – a brand new gas station and convenience store? Convenience gas stations are, as you might know, the bane of our Phoenix urban…

May 06, 2010

Welcome to the new Blooming Rock!

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet You may have noticed that I didn’t post my usual weekly blog posts this week. That’s because I was working on relaunching the Blooming Rock website so it’s easier and more enjoyable for you to use and get information from. Take some time, poke around and get to know the site! If you like what you see, spread the word and let your friends know about the new and improved site here to inform, educate and inspire you about architecture in Phoenix. I’ll be back on my usual blog post schedule starting Monday!

May 02, 2010

Blooming Rock is Under Construction!

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Stay tuned for a way better Blooming Rock web experience with my new upcoming website relaunch! See you all in the next couple of days… Taz

April 28, 2010

Why I think Jane Jacobs Rocked and Why You Should Participate in Jane’s Walk Phoenix

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet The 2nd Annual Jane’s Walk Phoenix Saturday May 1, 2010 9:00am Starting at AmenZone 106 E. Buchanan St. What is it? From Sunset Magazine‘s profile of last year’s Jane’s Walk Phoenix This is an annual walk put on by urbanist Yuri Artibise in honor of Jane Jacobs who was a community activist, amateur urbanist and advocate of walkable neighborhoods. There are several Jane’s Walks that occur throughout different cities in the US but Yuri brought it to Phoenix, a place that is in dire need of the ideals espoused by Jane Jacobs. Find out more about this remarkable woman…

April 27, 2010

What you need to know about ‘Energize Phoenix’

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Have you heard about the $25 mil grant the City of Phoenix received in partnership with ASU and APS as part of the Stimulus Bill? You need to know about this! This grant is intended to make the Green Rail Corridor into a model of energy efficiency and sustainability. Now what part of town is this Corridor? Here’s a map of the area that they’re including in the Green Rail Corridor: (As an aside, this map provided by the City of Phoenix Planning Department is pretty cryptic and you have to work hard to figure it out. I’m looking…