Archive for the ‘urbanism’ Category

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 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…

October 12, 2010

Councilman Peggy Neely on City North and Downtown Development

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet A few weeks ago I spoke to Councilman Peggy Neely who’s formed an exploratory committee to see if she wants to run for Mayor in 2011. Councilman Neely’s is District 2 that includes Kierland Commons and City North. I was curious to find out, since her district is away from the central city, what her view is for Downtown. I was also curious to know about her position on City North as it is in her district. Also, I asked the Councilwoman about how we can support small businesses since as much of her district is home to lots…

October 11, 2010

Biking Infrastructure as Sign of Modernity and Progress

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet “Bruges is a biking city” declared the woman at the information counter at the train station when we arrived from Brussels. I found out first hand that she wasn’t kidding. Biking is an integral part of the infrastructure in Bruges, which is a tiny city in Belgium that has gotten a few big things right. And one of those things is their bicycle culture. Right from the get go, when we walked out of the train station, I saw a sea of bicycles parked outside: The woman at the information counter would later tell me that locals bike to…

October 06, 2010

A Tribute to the Canals of Phoenix

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet I know it seems like I keep harping on all the things I find problematic about Phoenix and I tend to point out the things we could learn from other cities. But this doesn’t mean there aren’t already great things about living here, right now, just the way they are. Today I wanted to touch on one of those things, and that is our canal system. There has been much discussion, much speculation and much thought put into our canal system thanks to Nan Ellin’s visionary Canalscape project which is now being overseen by Valley Forward Association. But what…

October 05, 2010

Tom Simplot on the Impact of the Reversible Lanes on the Central Core and More

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet A few weeks ago I spoke with Councilman Tom Simplot, the councilman for District 4 in Phoenix. There is a possibility that Councilman Simplot may run for mayor in 2011, but he did not confirm one way or another during our interview. He did, however, answer questions about many of the things we find important at Blooming Rock such as historic preservation, sustainability, growth and the reversible lanes. Below is our conversation: Blooming Rock: Are you running for mayor? Councilman Simplot: I’ll tell you right now, no one should be saying definitively if they are running for mayor because…

October 04, 2010

Learning from European Cities: An Introduction

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet It’s good to be back in the Valley of the Sun! I had a fantastic time in Europe and learned a great deal about how dense urban centers work. I’d like to share what I learned over the coming weeks on Mondays in my Learning from European Cities Series. It’s true that Phoenix will never be and shouldn’t be a reproduction of a European city. We have very unique characteristics here, as well as a completely different climate and landscape, land availability, and cultural differences among other factors. However, there are a few universal things that work well in…