Posts Tagged ‘Mesa’

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,…

April 08, 2013

Community Action, not Top-Down Overhaul, Will Lead to Walkability in Phoenix

by: Jennifer Gunther

Tweet Today’s post is by contributing writer Jennifer Gunther reporting on Day 2 of Phoenix Urban Design Week’s Urban Tactics Symposium: The AIA Arizona office downtown hosted day two of Phoenix Urban Design Week’s Urban Tactics Symposium, which featured keynote speaker, planner and walkability expert Jeff Speck and a panel of planners, researchers and designers who presented key strategies that can help Phoenix become less autocentric and more of a socially oriented urban space. The author of “Walkable City” gave an overview of the first section of his book, laying down the case for walkability’s powerful impact on the overall quality…

July 25, 2012

Sustainable Communities Collaborative Helps Fund Transit Oriented Development in Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet We all know that after the housing market crash, banks have tightened their fists considerably, making it hard to develop anything at all, much less innovative and equitable transit-oriented projects. The picture looked bleak for new development and redevelopment, where even suburban tract housing developers were dead in the water. But a few years ago, thanks to a very dedicated local team, some funds were secured to bridge the gap of financing for transit oriented development along the Light Rail. This is great news for Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa who have opted into Light Rail and stand to benefit…

July 19, 2011

Notes from the Bus: Using Public Transportation and Being a Pedestrian in Arizona

by: Jennifer Gunther

Tweet Today’s post is by contributing writer Jennifer Gunther: Taking the bus, hopping on the light rail and walking have been my usual means of navigating the Valley for the past two years. Every mile I have ridden or block I have walked has offered me a unique experience that driving from Point A to Point B could not. Although driving is its own pleasure, public transportation should be a desirable option for all Phoenix-area residents. It is imperative in the desert heat, which is at its most intense this time of year, that Phoenix and its surrounding suburbs reconsider…

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…

April 26, 2011

How we can fit all the growth of the next decade on less than 1% of our land and save 400 million gallons of gas doing it.

by: Kevin Kellogg

Tweet Today’s post is by architect/urban planner/thought leader Kevin Kellogg, who, I feel lucky to say, is a regular contributor on the Blooming Rock blog. While the history of Phoenix points to low density, suburban sprawl as the continued norm, it is possible to grow both economically and accommodate more population in a sustainable way by focusing the future growth onto vacant land around light rail stations. Much as the 1985 highway plan has enabled sprawling subdivisions around freeway off-ramps, the light rail line presents a transformative investment that could shape new types of urban places for the Valley: a…

January 18, 2011

What the City of Phoenix is Doing for the Centennial

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Today’s post is part II of my interview with Karen Churchard, the Executive Director of the Arizona Centennial 2012 Foundation regarding what the State is planning this year and next for our Centennial. If you missed part I, make sure to catch it here. I’ll be posting the third and final segment of the interview tomorrow. Today’s installment is about the events that we can expect to see this year in anticipation of the Centennial and also how the City of Phoenix, specifically, is planning to participate. Blooming Rock: What are some of the things that are happening now…

November 17, 2010

Children and the City

by: David Bickford

Tweet Today’s post is by guest blogger David Bickford, PHX Rail Food blogger. I first met David at a Radiate PHX event and I’ve run into him several times around town at places like the Public Market and Lola’s on Central. Sometimes we have time for a great conversation but usually, David is on his way to pick his little girls up after work. He’s one of the few people I know who is an urban dweller that has kids. David works in a managerial position at a Phoenix-based institution of higher education, but his hobby is PHX Rail Food,…