Posts Tagged ‘arizona’

November 12, 2014

The Best Strategies for Adapting to Climate Change Extremes Lie in our own Backyard

by: Jonce Walker

Tweet Today’s article is by guest contributor Jonce Walker. Jonce is a LEED Accredited Professional, a Certified Sustainable Building Advisor and a Sustainability Consultant for Terrapin Bright Green in NYC. In the 1950’s, the arid climate of Phoenix, AZ created a haven to recover from the respiratory challenges associated with colder, wetter places in the United States. Coupled with warm winters and the chance to retire in inexpensive housing, the Valley of the Sun became a powerful draw for many Americans starting new lives after the war. However, after 60 years of breakneck development, several climate change-related challenges are beginning…

January 29, 2014

Livability 101: Nolli Plans of Phoenix Suburb Depict Isolation and Car Dependence

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet This is the fifth installment of the Livability 101 Series. A Nolli Plan is a figure/ground representation of the city. It depicts the figure as white and the ground as black, allowing you to immediately visualize the relationship between, say buildings and open space. The most famous Nolli Plan is that of Rome, captured in the lead photograph. I’ve been staying in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler on and off this past year, visiting my parents. Every time, the enormous distances between destinations, the wide roads and the sea of parking in front of every shopping center strike me…

October 25, 2013

Take the Mesa Artspace Survey!

by: David Crummey

Tweet Today’s article is by guest writer David Crummey: Arts. Artists. Creativity. Beauty. The way we move. The heart of a city. The physical infrastructure of a city’s soul. Art imbues our very selves; how we commune, how we interact, and how we build our cities. Ensuring that art has a table in our conversations, in our thoughts; assuring that we keep art — beauty — close to us as we take each step into the future, it is that which will make our cities grand. I know this isn’t the the forum to expound upon why art is important,…

June 21, 2012

Hoy, Soy Arizona. SB1070, the DREAM Act, and Competitive Cities

by: Feliciano Vera

Tweet Today’s post is by contributing writer Feliciano Vera: I was going for the Mexican Ming the Merciless look. Sporting a freshly shaved head – a minor protest against an economy in the gutter – as well as a goatee and mustache, I could easily have been mistaken for your friendly neighborhood cholo. Ensconced as I was amid the couches at Postino Arcadia, that was the farthest thought from my mind. Drinking prosecco with a polyglot group of friends during a not-too-distant holiday season, the mood was cheerful and celebratory, despite the dire state of the economy. We had just…

June 05, 2012

Let’s Not Cook Ourselves in the Crock Pot of Our Stupidity

by: Feliciano Vera

Tweet Today’s post is by contributing writer Feliciano Vera: I had never been to Portrero Hill. The view to the east, across the Bay towards Oakland, was nothing short of breathtaking. Framed as it was by the deep inset windows and aromas of Plow, against a foreground of artisanal sausage, almond pancakes, hipsters and software developers, it almost made me cry. And then Kelley interrupted my reverie: “So, when are you moving here?” “Trust me. This isn’t making my decision to stay any easier.” I responded. My son lives across the Bay in Oakland. With no girlfriend or wife, and…

September 28, 2011

An Essay by Will Bruder: What Can We Aim For?

by: Will Bruder

Tweet This week I am posting Will Bruder’s excellent essay for the 98th Arizona Town Hall meeting, “Capitalizing on Arizona’s Arts and Culture”. I’ve posted the essay in 3 parts. In today’s post, which is the third and final part, Will gives us a 6-point plan on how to move forward in Arizona in ways that we can tap into our unique local resources and plug into the sustainability progress happening globally. Make sure to read Part I and Part II of this essay if you haven’t yet. If you’d like to read Will’s entire essay in one sitting, you…

August 15, 2011

Phoenix: America’s Desert Metropolis

by: Will Novak

Tweet Today’s post is by contributing writer Will Novak. One of the most exciting things about being a Phoenician is being from a place that looks unlike any other major City in the United States. Very few large American cities are in deserts and only two, Phoenix and Tucson, reside in the world’s most beautiful desert, the Sonoran. Phoenix needs to do a better job embracing the desert and leveraging our unique climate to become America’s and the World’s foremost desert metropolis. Embracing Xeriscaping In Phoenix’s early days its Anglo residents were strangely embarrassed by the Desert and the Arizona…

May 11, 2011

APS Shade Tree Program!

by: Doreen Pollack

Tweet My friend Doreen Pollack, who is the Garden Goddess, an expert in community and residential gardens and someone who serves on the board of the Valley Permaculture Guild, now is coordinating the APS Shade Tree Program. When she told me that you could get up to 3 shade trees FOR FREE from APS, I wanted to hear more and I thought you would too! So she crafted this small announcement about the program. Planting shade trees in your yard can save you up to $50 per year on your energy bill by blocking the sun’s rays and reducing your…

May 03, 2011

Bryan White of Green House Farm, an Architect of Buildings and of Dirt

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Bryan White, sitting in his back yard urban farm with his chicken Polka Dottie Bryan White is an architect gone wild. He and his wife Miro are the owners of an urban farm in the back yard of their home on Osborn and 24th St., in the heart of the city, called Green House Farm. I visited Bryan a while back to interview him and I have to tell you, it was the most pleasant interview I’ve done as of yet. We sat in his back yard, a mini farm, enjoyed the gentle breeze of the spring afternoon, watched…

May 02, 2011

PHXexposed

by: Keith Mulvin

Tweet Today’s post is by Keith Mulvin. I love it when Keith’s kind, smiling face greets me at the Phoenix Public Market and when I run into him at various local events, coffee shops and other hangouts. Keith G. Mulvin was born and raised in Tempe, Arizona and now lives in Phoenix, Arizona. He has a Bachelor of Science in Urban Planning from the School of Design at Arizona State University. He currently works at the Phoenix Public Market. Keith is dedicated to Phoenix and is being the change he wants to see, with a coffee cup in his hand….