Posts Tagged ‘cityscape’

October 31, 2011

Bring Back the Ho

by: Will Novak

Tweet Today’s post is by contributing writer Will Novak: There have been recent rumblings on Facebook that Ben Bethel, the man behind Midtown’s Clarendon Hotel, may be acquiring the old Valley National Bank building and finishing its conversion to the Hotel Monroe. That would undoubtedly be great news for Downtown, as a hip boutique hotel would be a welcome addition to Downtowns amenity portfolio. The last few years have seen a fair amount of activity in the Downtown hotel market; new hotels like the Sheraton and Westin have been built, others like the Wyndham and Lexington are set to rebrand,…

July 18, 2011

Phoenix’s Need for New Public Squares

by: Will Novak

Tweet Today’s post is by contributing writer Will Novak: Phoenix’s park system is something of an enigma: part of it is breathtakingly wonderful, the other part embarrassing. The City’s desert and mountain preserve system is world class and a jewel all Phoenicians should be proud of. However, Phoenix’s “traditional” parks and squares are poorly designed and often don’t even exist where you’d expect to find them. Phoenix has four areas that are either urban or semi-urban (Downtown, Midtown, Uptown & Biltmore), and not a single one of them has a well-designed urban park at their heart. In order for each…

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…

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…