Posts Tagged ‘community’

June 15, 2015

Depave Breaks Down Cultural Barriers As Well As Asphalt Paving

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet It’s not easy to be a Muslim in America. After 9-11 Muslims have been a target of discrimination and suspicion and have been painted as “anti-American”. As recently as last month there was an armed anti-Islam demonstration at an Arizona mosque. Continued violence perpetrated by extremists around the world has put Muslims in America, who themselves have nothing to do with that violence, in a position of constantly having to defend themselves and their religion. I was raised as a Muslim, but no longer practice. But my family still does and I very much still feel connected to the…

February 15, 2015

The Future of the Library

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Thanks to Google, e-books, Amazon.com, and book store cafés among other factors, libraries are changing at a breakneck speed. Libraries used to be where you looked things up, and now you can look anything up practically at any time if your smartphone is within easy reach, which for many it is all the time. But what about the community development role of the library in society? By not using the library as a resource in the same way, are we losing a sense of community when so much information is at our fingertips without ever having to get up…

December 31, 2012

A Year of Profound Change Leads to a Big Move

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet 2012 has been a year of profound change for me. I went through a divorce after being married for seven years. If you’ve ever been through a divorce, you know that it feels like the rug (actually, it feels more like the entire ground you walk on) has been pulled out from under you. Nothing looks or feels quite the same. Your old assumptions and your old paradigms don’t make sense anymore and you’re left with a blank canvas (whether you want one or not) on which you must build a new life with new assumptions and new paradigms….

October 15, 2012

Propinquity Deprivation Disorder – A Real Downer in Phoenix

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Since I’ve been boasting a great deal about how much I love Portland, some people have rolled their eyes and glibly said it’s not that great, especially in the winter months. It’s rainy and cloudy and people are prone to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) there. According to the National Library of Medicine, “Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a kind of depression that occurs at a certain time of the year, usually in the winter.” I have no doubt this is true. I lived in Pittsburgh for a year and it was cloudy there on most days for all the long and…

June 08, 2011

5 Reasons I Love Community Tables at Restaurants

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Last Sunday Paul and I had breakfast at La Grande Orange on 40th Street and Campbell. Our favorite place to sit there is the community table. The last time we sat there, we struck up a conversation with an 8-year-old and his mom. And this time we chatted it up with a guy who noticed my “got coffee? seattle” t-shirt. We ended up talking with him for over an hour! The community table at breakfast last Sunday at La Grande Orange. Photo by the author. This made me think about the beauty of community tables. Here are 5 reasons…

June 06, 2011

Can We Live Local?

by: Ryan Glass

Tweet Today’s post is by Ryan Glass. I first met Ryan at a Places, Spaces and Faces Community Dinner. I subsequently ran into Ryan’s insightful and hilarious blog Relevant Wit through some mutual urbanist friends. When I saw Ryan at Lola’s on Roosevelt a while ago, I knew I had to hit him up for a guest post! The Downtown Phoenix Public Market. Photo by Taz Loomans. CenPho resident since 2002, Ryan Glass is an amateur urbanist, podcaster and contributing writer. For his more random thoughts, follow @RyanGPHX. Not that long ago, I attended a speech given by noted urbanist…

May 31, 2011

Replacing Windows in Historic Neighborhoods Should Require a Permit

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Last month I was invited to participate in a Window Advisory Committee set up by the City of Phoenix Historic Preservation Commission. This may sound a bit esoteric to many of you, but some important issues were discussed that pertain to our historic neighborhoods. Here’s some background. We have 35 designated historic residential neighborhoods in the City of Phoenix. You can find out where they are here. These neighborhoods fall under Historic Preservation Overlay Zoning meaning that they are subject to Historic Preservation Design Guidelines. So if you live in one of those neighborhoods and you want to make…

March 22, 2011

Interview with Architect Marlene Imirzian

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting with architect Marlene Imirzian at her office in Sunnyslope. I’m a big fan of Marlene’s not only because of her fantastic work and embededness in the community but because she is a great example of a premier woman architect here in the Valley. Below is our conversation. Blooming Rock: Can you tell me a little bit about working with Gunnar Birkerts and William Kessler and how its influenced your work? Marlene Imirzian: I am an architect because of Gunnar. Gunnar Birkerts is not well known today but at the…

January 31, 2011

In Search of the Perfect Shade Tree

by: Lysistrata Hall

Tweet This is a special guest post by Lysistrata “Lyssa” Hall, a Landscape Architect I with the City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department and one of the principal authors of the Tree and Shade Master Plan. Lyssa is an Arizona native that was born and raised in Jerome, Arizona. So often, I am asked what is the perfect shade tree for Phoenix? There really isn’t one perfect tree that can be planted in every place and meet everyone’s needs. Trees are living organisms that have diverse growing habits and needs, so it is critical that we apply the concepts…

January 26, 2011

How Phoenix became a City of Freeways and not Rail Transit

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Believe it or not Phoenix was one of the last major cities in the country to complete its freeway system. By the 1960s Phoenix still didn’t have many freeways other than the 1-17. Starting to learn lessons from other parts of the country, especially LA, many in Phoenix weren’t sure that adding freeways would be a good answer to our people-moving dilemma. “…by the later 1960s, people in many cities were beginning to see that near total reliance on the automobile for transportation imposed significant unanticipated costs. Many people now regretted the decisions to bulldoze older neighborhoods that resulted…