Archive for the ‘urbanism’ Category

January 17, 2011

Arizona Centennial Plans for Washington Street

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Arizona’s birthday is just around the corner. On February 14, our state will be turning 99.  Next year, we’ll be celebrating a huge birthday, the Centennial.  With the down economy, all the bad press our state has been getting for SB1070 and most recently the shocking attacks in Tucson, many say that the Centennial is coming at a bad time.  But Karen Churchard, the Executive Director of the Arizona Centennial 2012 Foundation, says it’s perfect timing.  She believes that this is indeed the perfect time to celebrate the Arizona we love through Centennial celebrations which are already underway. I…

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January 05, 2011

The Musical Instrument Museum – A Great Cultural Treasure in Phoenix

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) has been in the news a lot lately.  In fact, it was featured on NPR today.  Last week I had the pleasure of personally visiting the Musical Instrument Museum with my out of town family and I absolutely loved it.  The building and the surrounding landscaping are fantastic, but that’s not why I love this museum.  I love this museum because it celebrates, respects and cherishes every culture in the world in a  state that can easily be considered a little xenophobic after the passage of SB 1070.  Having a varied cultural background myself,…

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January 04, 2011

Phoenix, State of the Ride 2010: From Soleri to CVS, a Dialog

by: JohnRomeo Alpha

Tweet Today’s post is by John Romeo Alpha, a fellow bike enthusiast and a blogger.  I absolutely love JRA’s blog One Speed:Go! John Romeo Alpha  currently commutes by bicycle every day, and has been a Phoenix resident for more than 20 years. He is passionate about all types of bicycling, and is always looking for new and interesting ways to connect canal, path, road and mountain on two wheels. He chronicles his thoughts and explorations on his blog, One Speed: Go! On a sunny day between Christmas and New Years, JRA is meeting up with Tommy, a once-fit friend who…

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January 02, 2011

New Year’s Resolutions for a Better Community

by: Jim McPherson

Tweet Today’s post is by Jim McPherson, a follow up to his guest post last week.  He helps us kick off the new year with some resolutions on how to improve Phoenix and concrete steps on how to get started.  Thanks Jim!… Happy New Year! Here in Phoenix, the sun is out, the sky is clear, and there’s a slight chill in the air.  Not bad, not bad at all.  It’s also that time of the year to resolve to improve upon the previous year.  It’s time to look forward and to move forward. Last week in my post, “Yes…

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December 29, 2010

Reverse Lanes Place Cars Above Community

by: Yuri Artibise

Tweet Today’s post is by the avid urbanist, community activist and my friend, Yuri Artibise. Yuri Artibise—aka the Incurable Urbanist—has spent the past four years creating community in the urban desert that is better known as Phoenix. Through his Yurbanism brand, Yuri explores the ‘Y’ of urbanism by sharing ways to make our cities more livable, community-oriented places one block at a time.  Find out more at yuriartibise.com. On December 14th Phoenix City Council voted 5-1 (with 2 absences) to accept the report of the Ad Hoc Task Force on Reverse Lanes. (A summary of the report is found at…

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December 28, 2010

Car Free Stories: An Old Bird and a New Bird on the Canal

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet This is the first post in a new series called Car Free Stories which will document my various experiences riding my bike, taking transit and walking in Central Phoenix. Today I’d like to share two stories about my daily bike commute on the Grand Canal.  One is about an old bird named Bob and another about a new bird on the scene. An Old Bird Named Bob There is an old gentleman dressed in a track suit that walks for exercise on the canal.  I see him almost every day.  Once we realized we were regulars on the canal,…

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December 27, 2010

6 Things Phoenix Could Learn from Bisbee

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet You may think Bisbee, AZ is just a podunk town in the middle of nowhere and what the heck could a big city like Phoenix learn from a no-place like that?  Well, to some people’s surprise, they get a whole lotta things right in Bisbee and we could take a few pointers from the tiny town here in our mega metropolis. 1. Go Local There’s a big emphasis on local in Bisbee. I know Bisbee is often seen as a tourist trap, but it’s not.  In fact, Bisbee has a very strong and loyal local population that makes sure…

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December 22, 2010

“Yes Virginia, there is community in Phoenix”

by: Jim McPherson

Tweet Today’s post is by Jim McPherson, a dedicated and revered community leader here in Phoenix… A few months ago at Hob Nobs Coffee House I chatted with Russ Haan of After Hours Creative about the “ups and downs,” “twists and turns,” and “progress and pitfalls” of getting projects off the ground in downtown Phoenix.  In our conversation we rattled off a dozen or so, but later I got to thinking, “How many projects are we talking about?” Before I go any further, let me define “projects.”  It’s those “fine grain” projects, initiatives, events, and activities organized by individuals and…

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December 15, 2010

STUDIO 1to1

by: Evan Ward

Tweet Today’s post is by Evan Ward, a member of a new team of designers and architects called STUDIO 1to1.  STUDIO 1to1 actually started as an architecture thesis studio at ASU and has gone on to do some remarkable work with Transit Oriented Development planning around the Light Rail.  I was excited to meet Evan recently and asked him to write about the work of STUDIO 1to1. Evan Ward grew up in Holland, Michigan and has lived in Arizona since 2001.  He recently earned his M.Arch from Arizona State University.  Prior to grad school, he spent 5 years working for…

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