Posts Tagged ‘urbanism’

Tweet Today’s post is by guest contributor Bob Graham: 2015 has brought to downtown Phoenix new multifamily development projects that have awakened and alarmed local stakeholders. Any of these developments on their own would probably have ruffled a few feathers but then continued on to completion would be just one more minor erosion of urban fabric that we would adjust to. However when they all come up at once, the challenges of maintaining our progress towards a revitalized and sustainable downtown become all too stark. Current Events: Problem Projects The three projects that have caught the community’s attention are, from west…

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Tweet Below is the second half of my interview with Feliciano Vera, partner at Habitat Metro, the development company behind Portland Place, The Oasis Motel redevelopment and now the Lexington Hotel redevelopment.  If you missed the first half, make sure to catch it here! Blooming Rock: How has the economy impacted you? I know Habitat Metro started in 2007 when everything was flying high. How has it changed you? Feliciano Vera: It’s reinforced our discipline in terms of our basic business discipline and our focus on opportunities and work that passes basic economic muster. We have to be able to…

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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…

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