Posts Tagged ‘walking’

November 02, 2010

ASU and the City

by: J Seth Anderson

Tweet Today’s post is by J Seth Anderson, a fantastic writer, journalist and fellow urban advocate for the Valley. Seth (first name is John, but he has always gone by Seth) is not a Phoenix native but dang close! His favorite time of year is summer in Phoenix. Seth lives in a mid-century house in downtown Tempe although he lives and breathes downtown Phoenix historic preservation and development. He writes about downtown Phoenix, historic preservation, politics, and LGBT issues on his own blog Boy Meets Blog. Seth also writes for the new Downtown Phoenix Journal magazine debuting this Thursday, November…

November 01, 2010

Cultivating Direct Experiences and Propinquity in Phoenix

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet According to Carol Venolia in her article Real Time in Natural Home Magazine, modern day society is moving away from direct experiences, such as actually spending time with our friends, and moving more towards indirect experiences such as chatting online instead. This distancing from real experiences, the author argues, creates a less satisfying and perhaps somewhat of a distorted life. The idea of direct versus indirect experiences is very much tied into the concept of propinquity which was first introduced to me by Kevin Kellogg. Propinquity, if you’re unfamiliar with the word, “refers to the physical or psychological proximity…

October 15, 2010

Action Item: Love Dogs, Not Cars

by: Sean Sweat

Tweet Today on Blooming Rock we have a special Friday post by Sean Sweat about future plans for the Sahara Motel site that is slated to become a parking lot, but Sean has a better idea. Sean Sweat, aka @PhxDowntowner, is the Treasurer of St Croix Villas in the heart of downtown and an MIT-trained transportation professional. His professional focus is supply chain & logistics. His personal focus is pedestrianism, public transit, and multi-modal interactions. INTRODUCTION St Croix Villas needs your help. If you like any of the following things, you’ll want to help us: • Downtown Vibrancy • Pedestrianism…

October 12, 2010

Councilman Peggy Neely on City North and Downtown Development

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet A few weeks ago I spoke to Councilman Peggy Neely who’s formed an exploratory committee to see if she wants to run for Mayor in 2011. Councilman Neely’s is District 2 that includes Kierland Commons and City North. I was curious to find out, since her district is away from the central city, what her view is for Downtown. I was also curious to know about her position on City North as it is in her district. Also, I asked the Councilwoman about how we can support small businesses since as much of her district is home to lots…

October 04, 2010

Learning from European Cities: An Introduction

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet It’s good to be back in the Valley of the Sun! I had a fantastic time in Europe and learned a great deal about how dense urban centers work. I’d like to share what I learned over the coming weeks on Mondays in my Learning from European Cities Series. It’s true that Phoenix will never be and shouldn’t be a reproduction of a European city. We have very unique characteristics here, as well as a completely different climate and landscape, land availability, and cultural differences among other factors. However, there are a few universal things that work well in…

September 28, 2010

An Inexpensive, Eco-Friendly Solution to Connect Areas not Served by the Light Rail

by: Tony Arranaga

Tweet Continuing this week of guest posts by top-notch Phoenix writers and thinkers, today’s post is by the Light Rail Blogger, Tony Arranaga. Since 1995, Tony has worked in television newsrooms around the country. Tony started his career on the assignment desk at the West Coast Bureau for ABC News in Los Angeles. He then spent several years covering politics in both Tampa and Washington, D.C. before landing in Phoenix where he helped ABC 15/KNXV-TV grow a morning show audience. Tony’s new passion is mass transit and alternative transportation. He is the publisher of Light Rail Blogger – which talks…

August 31, 2010

Mayor Gordon on his Legacy to Phoenix

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet This morning, I had the honor of sitting down with City of Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and asking him a few questions about future urban development and sustainability. I had asked readers to send me questions to ask the Mayor and I got many really good ones. Unfortunately, the Mayor’s morning was a particularly busy one and I was only able to speak to him for a short time. But I tried to touch on the topics that matter to my readers in the short time I did have with him. Below is our conversation: Blooming Rock: Would you…

August 18, 2010

Raising Awareness is a Key First Step towards Restoring the Urban Forest in Phoenix

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet This is the third installment of a month-long Wednesday series on The Phoenix Tree and Shade Master Plan. Part I was all about what an urban forest is and Part II, last Wednesday, was about the multiple benefits of a healthy urban forest. Today I’m going to talk about the first step that the Master Plan has outlined towards restoring the urban forest. This is the vision of the Master Plan for the year 2030: By 2030, the view from the northern ridge lines of South Mountain to the desert washes of the Sonoran Preserve reveals the urban forest…

August 11, 2010

Trees Improve Social Connections, Who Knew?

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Today is the second installation in a month-long Wednesday series on The Phoenix Tree and Shade Master Plan. Last week I talked about the concept of the Urban Forest and why it’s important. Today I’m going to try to address this notion quoted in the Master Plan: “(The) General public has a limited understanding of the importance of trees.” This may be why most people have no idea or don’t care that our Phoenix urban forest is being destroyed slowly. Planting trees is not in the forefront of people’s minds when it comes to improving livability. Here’s why trees…

August 10, 2010

Why Your Walk Score is More Important than Granite Countertops

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Our new tenant, Theresa Devine, an interactive arts professor at ASU who just moved here from Chicago was telling me about Walk Score yesterday, a website that generates “a number between 0 and 100 that measures the walkability of any address”. She’s in the market to buy a house in Phoenix, our duplex is just a stop on her journey, and is using this site to determine what neighborhood she wants to live in permanently. She’s living proof that people moving to Phoenix are seeking walkability. In fact, Walk Score claims that there is a dollar value attached to…