Posts Tagged ‘sprawl’

January 25, 2011

How Far has Phoenix Transportation Come since 1974?

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Well, not very far. We may, in fact, have taken a few steps backwards. While I was doing some research for another article I’m writing, I ran into a very telling story written by Pam Hait called “Transportation” in the August 1974 Phoenix Magazine. Below are two excerpts from it that I found fascinating: “Bicycle paths also made giant strides as Scottsdale, Tempe and Phoenix all initiated bike-only paths and lanes. Cities now request that developers build adequate room for bicycle paths into their subdivision plans. Bikers converged on Phoenix City Hall this year, and made the most of…

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…

December 14, 2010

What Would Paolo Soleri Do?

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet “The mechanisms channeling life positively may consist of the replacement of comfort and security by joy.” – Paolo Soleri in his book Arcology: The City in the Image of Man This weekend was the public dedication of the bridge designed by Paolo Soleri in Scottsdale on the Waterfront. I attended a special VIP reception before the public dedication and snapped a photo of the man himself. The next day, I attended a lecture on Organic Architecture by Alan Hess and a panel discussion on Soleri’s Principles in Action that included Will Bruder, John Munier, Jeffrey Stein and Peter Zweig,…

December 07, 2010

Why Small Multi-Family Living May be the Way of the Future

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet This weekend I was in Milwaukee with my husband to visit his family. My brother-in-law had us over for tea and I helped him put up his Christmas tree. He lives in a one-bedroom apartment on the 3rd floor of an old mansion. That mansion, that was once built for a single wealthy family, was later converted into 4 apartments. My sister-in-law, who also lives in Milwaukee, recently bought a duplex that was also once an old mansion but was turned into a duplex later. Milwaukee is full of such buildings in its neighborhoods – single-family mansions turned into…

April 19, 2010

The 3 Biggest Sustainability Challenges We Face in Phoenix

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet With Earth Day (April 22) just around the corner, let’s take this week to reflect on the sustainability challenges here in Phoenix. What are the biggest sustainability challenges we face in Phoenix? These are my top 3: 1. SPRAWL – The Problem: increased emissions into our atmosphere increased dependence on foreign oil an ever-increasing expansion of highways built on land that could be used more sustainably swaths of abandoned foreclosed homes in failed housing developments in far-flung suburbs such as Coolidge, Surprise, and Maricopa sprawl in Phoenix – photo from The Anthropik Network Suggested Solutions: telecommuting build work hubs…