It's not a hybrid

Ok whatever it is. My statement still stands. Replace hybrid with whatever you like. Want preferencial parking get a bicycle.

2011 Congress of Cities coming to the Valley of the Sun

Different showcase workshops will be taking place around the Valley.
From November 9-12

Read more here

Not really on Phoenix development, but it is a nice opportunity to showcase the different things going on around the Valley of the Sun.
From the Biomedical Campus (Phoenix) and SkySong (Scottsdale) to solar power (Gilbert) and sustainable water resources (Peoria).

How did this go under my radar???


Angels Trumpet Ale House to open in downtown Phoenix
1 commentby Howard Seftel - Jul. 25, 2011 02:04 PM
Republic restaurant critic
.

There are still plenty of gaps to fill in the growing downtown Phoenix restaurant market. But come spring 2012, you can cross ale house off the list.

That's when Mat and Sharry Englehorn will be opening Angels Trumpet Ale House on Second Street, just south of Roosevelt.

Englehorn, 46, has been a local real estate broker for more than 20 years. Now he senses that downtown is "finally starting to hum" and that this is the "right opportunity."

Along with 30-plus craft beers on tap, the Englehorns also plan to offer a range of ale-friendly eats.

How'd they choose the restaurant's name? Easy: Englehorn is German for Angels Trumpet.



Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/...#ixzz1TE84xIov

^That sounds very good, Roosevelt Row is sure coming along. I wonder what building that will go in, I wish the AzCentral article would've listed an address.

Here's there facebook page. I don't know that they have officially released the address, although the City approved permitting for a 3,000 sf patio so the address must be available somewhere. My understanding is that it will be pretty close to FilmBar.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Angel...713599?sk=wall

^The main thing holding Roosevelt Row back is lack of housing. If development were to happen along the Row from Central to 7th St then the strip would be an interesting and busy place at all times. However, high density housing would need to be the focus; so no more ugly developments and suburban like dwellings similar to Artisan Village should be built.

100% correct.

There is that new high density student housing planned around 4th street. That'll be a good start.

Huh? Artisan Village could certainly be a few stories taller and a bit more dense, but I struggle to see how its suburban. It has street facing retail, live/work spaces, it fronts the street directly and activates the North side of Roosevelt, etc. Its not like its "The Met" or "St Croix Villas" or whatever.

I agree we desperately need a lot more residential in the Roosevelt Row area and I imagine as the retail keeps filling out, whenever the next economic bounce back happens, we'll get that residential. But personally I'd be thrilled with more residential thats like Artisan Village.

It uses the faux, urbanist feel as its basis for architecture. The car garage is the primary focal point for too much of the complex save the Roosevelt facing streetscape. It is enclosed and the end of the complex facing 7th Street is not at all urban. That it can be called a complex is in itself, a non-urban characteristic. If this place had a nicer footprint, say, more similar to Alta Lofts then it would meet downtown standards (what they should/need to be) much better.

It looks promising. I am interested in seeing how the Roosevelt and 3rd/4th Street facing facade/streetscape will be designed. Student housing is great, but we need more "open to the general public" options for artists, young professionals, older students, older-childless couples looking to leave suburbia, etc...

I have 0 problem with it being non urban facing 7th Street. 7th Street South of the I-10 is more or less a highway. There's no way that will ever be a pedestrian corridor or anything urban-ish. Downtown buildings should put their backs towards 7th Ave/Street and face "into" downtown. The reality is for the foreseeable future the majority of families in PHX will have to have at least 1 car. If we can get more couples and families down to 1 car per family (instead of 1 car per person) and use streets like the 7's South of Downtown to serve those cars, that would be a major success.

Is Alta Village perfect? No. But its leagues better than the Met, St Croix Villas, the various suburban style Mid Century Modern apartments in Downtown, etc.

It is better than the Met, St Croix... but that is not saying much.

I don't agree with your 7th Street directives. The street can be narrowed, sidewalks widened, trees planted and bike-lanes enhanced to make it a great urban corridor. It has many older buildings and dwellings that can be taken advantage of like Monroe School (Children's Museum of Phoenix), the building Crossfit is in, etc. Also, that the bio-med campus is on 7th is a huge asset. Much of the glass facade of the new UofA building will be visible from 7th.

Traditionally, most downtown buildings should be open on all sides that face any street and sidewalk. There should be no "back" to a building unless it is adjacent to another building. Of course this would mean that no parking would be built and that is unlikely to happen in Phoenix. Because of that parking entrances should be limited and hidden, say utilizing the old alleyways for parking structures that are either under the buildings or in the middle like Alta.

^I just think there's a difference between an ideal urban paradise and what's actually realistic for PHX. I just can't fathom a scenario when the 7's South of the I-10 aren't just flooded with cars during rush hour or during ball games downtown. Why not just have the BioMed campuses parking garage face 7th Street and not try to fight a crazy uphill battle? Its a lot more realistic to hope for 6th Ave-6th St to become urban than for the 7's South of the 10.

Artisan Village was a huge deal for Roosevelt Row, it houses a lot of quality retail, I think knocking it too much is strange.

Too many set their expectations very low for Phoenix, especially City Hall. There is no vision (don't mean to be disrespectful towards you) and it is evident in what people expect in basic services like streets, sidewalks, and streetscapes. The purpose of making 7th smaller downtown would be to make it urban-centric and to get people thinking about other modes of transportation besides cars. Have you been to other cities where downtown streets (busy and most traversed) are small and narrow? Otherwise more transit in this city, including suburban commuter rail, are moot points and sustainability unattainable.

No offense because I love the vision, but when I read this:

"I don't agree with your 7th Street directives. The street can be narrowed, sidewalks widened, trees planted and bike-lanes enhanced to make it a great urban corridor. "

water came out my nose. Take on the smaller streets, show people that walkability is something that works here, and then maybe after a decade or two you can suggest doing that to 7th St.

Isn't that what people said about Central Ave. when it was narrowed for light rail? Van Buren is a good example of what can be made of 7th Street...two lanes for each direction and limited turning lanes...

Central was never the main thoroughfare in and out of downtown like 7th St and Ave are/have been.

I'm all for your plan, but unfortunately, it's going to have to be taken in very small baby steps. Get rid of the reversible lanes to start. If that ever happens, that is a huge victory. Then work on taking out lanes to widen sidewalks.

Making Central walkable makes sense with the light rail there, which gives people transit choices. But the entire infrastructure of 7th and its buildings are for cars. I have a hard time believing somebody would take the light rail downtown, exit, walk a half mile to 7th St, then walk around the non-existent shops. You could make 7th st. more pedestrian friendly, but aren't those pedestrians going to have to drive to 7th st. in order to walk around?

The resources for these things are so scarce given the hostility from people in the outlying areas who control so much of our City government. I would rather use them on something that could actually be achieved.

Central was indeed a main thoroughfare in and out of downtown...in fact Central (originally named Centre Street) was designed to be THE main thoroughfare.

Those are some lazy people who would drive 7 blocks from Central to 7th Street; nonetheless I see it accomplished during every First Friday. The point of bike lanes is to offer an alternative to walking that distance...also, if people must (disabilities) then there is a bus route on Roosevelt. There are no reversible lanes south of McDowell as drivers are required to turn if they are in the middle lane so that isn't really an issue. Most of the existing buildings on 7th are not built for cars since they predate the 1950's. In fact most of the buildings, homes, etc are right up to the sidewalk. Another reason to create a pedestrian friendly street is for future development and planning. As Evans-Churchill and even Garfield grow, there will be a need to retrofit many of the older structures on 7th for businesses, restaurants, even more pubs/bars/etc.

This is all in many ways conjecture of course, but it wouldn't be that difficult to remove a couple of lanes from 7th Street nor would it be prohibitively expensive it would only require a small but significant shift at City Hall in terms of street transportation design for the Central City; which coincidentally is occurring on Central north of Camelback.

This link contains some interesting history on Phoenix' historic streetscapes. It contains some interesting pictures of how downtown was designed to be very pedestrian friendly; including the 7's...
http://www.azhistory.net/streetsc/ph...rvationRpt.pdf