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Haha, so true! I never felt safe crossing at 7th St/Van Buren on a walk signal. There were numerous occasions where I had to dodge left turners, failing to yield to pedestrian right of way. I learned to look over my shoulder there.

This whole conversation is mind-bogglingly annoying. Phoenix needs about four times the streetlight density it does today. Fuck this HAWK bullshit. 7th St/Ave, in addition to about, well, all the arterials between 27th and 52nd and [insert crossing street] need lights. I don't know, but if I see a neighborhood street that continues across an arterial, the benefit of the doubt should lean towards putting a light there other than not.

Going back to the previous conversation about city budgets--the vast amounts of concrete and street here are the single biggest reason our budget is small and ineffective. Hong Kong has 6" of sidewalk per resident, Phoenix has something like 50'. This city will never make the transition from auto-oriented suburb to world-class people-oriented city unless the infrastructure represents it. And it will never do so as long as, for example, entire neighborhoods like Willo are walled off from the rest of society by the reversible lanes, every deadend at 1st Ave for a solid mile, speed humps on 3rd/5th, etc.

The more I think about it, the more I think that the market for density reflects carrying capacity of the infrastructure. It's not an accident or some rail fetish developers have with things like siting their new project by a transit station. It stems from the basic fact that of sites that don't have transit, a site by a transit project simply reflects the carrying capacity it provides. The same can be said for the forgotten colector streets that *should* be viable through routes, but for some reason Streets shoves all the traffic on to the arterials.

The Streets department is charged with the conflicting task of moving traffic out of the city as fast as possible AND somehow mitigating it anywhere they can but very often shouldn't. This doen't make any sense. This policy has encouraged the bullshit drive-by architecture that encompasses the vast majority of Phoenix and needs to stop.

Daytime Central Phoenix traffic is a bitch for an urban dweller, let alone a tepid suburbanite. Things like unprotected lefts onto a major arterial are downsides to living here that people subconsciously process. Adding vast numbers of streetlights and, paradoxically, shifting the focus to *encouraging* cut-through traffic and relieving the arterials would do wonders at citywide traffic relief and, by nature, encouragement of density.

Arizona Cardinals owners buy Tom's Tavern
by Glen Creno - Feb. 1, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Tom's Tavern, a landmark downtown Phoenix restaurant that had been on the brink of closing, has a new owner dedicated to keeping it open and preserving its identity.

The Bidwill family, owners of the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League, bought the restaurant that has built a reputation as a favorite spot for the big names of government and business. It will be run by a new division of the company the Cardinals created to operate the food service at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Tom's has been around in various incarnations for more than 80 years, but it was put up for sale last year when its owner, Michael Ratner, could no longer spend the time he wanted running the place. He was spending most of his time in treatment for esophageal cancer and said that if a buyer couldn't be found, the restaurant would be closed.


Ratner died in November after a two-year battle with the cancer. But before his death, Michael Bidwill, the Cardinals' president, paid Ratner a visit and expressed interest in buying Tom's.

The deal closed late last week and the new ownership hopes to reopen soon, possibly today, after a cleanup and inspection.

Tom's was a favorite spot for Bidwill during his six years as a federal prosecutor in Phoenix. He said he had known Ratner even before that and believed it was important to keep the restaurant going.

"It's been a downtown Phoenix tradition," Bidwill said. "Too often, we see these kind of places close. I didn't want to see Tom's close. There's too much history there."

The original Tom's opened in 1929 in a nearby neighborhood. A restaurant group bought the brand and moved to the restaurant's current location at Central Avenue and Washington Street. Ratner owned it for 18 years before deciding to put it up for sale last year.

Ratner had said Tom's business was disrupted by construction of the light-rail line and the CityScape development. He had been expecting a bump in business after the rail construction was finished and said he thought CityScape would bring more people into the area. He never got much of a chance to take advantage of either. He had surgery, chemotherapy and radiation in an effort to rid himself of cancer. Eventually, it became difficult for him to get around, even with medication.

His wife, Terry, is a registered nurse and didn't know much about running a restaurant. She said she was pleased it would stay open and that her husband was happy to know the place he cared about so much would not go by the wayside.

"It was bittersweet for me," she said of the sale.

Ron Minegar, executive vice president and chief operating officer for the Cardinals, said the plan was to preserve the cachet of Tom's while updating its look and menu. The goal is to keep the restaurant's brand and tradition.

"There's clearly a rich history with Tom's Tavern," he said. "It's kind of a meeting spot for the city. We didn't want to see a landmark like that go away. I'm glad it had the happy ending."

That whole thing is sad. I met Mike just a couple of months before he died. He was an upbeat guy and you'd never guess he had a terminal illness from talking to him.

Update on the ugly chain link fence outside the Children's Museum: The person who handles their Twitter account is now telling me the fence is a City project, which sort of makes sense because the City owns the land on which the museum is situated. I have asked for a specific contact because I'm still not convinced the new fence, even if it is more attractive, will offer a clear path for pedestrians. It's important to ensure that is planned and also to begin a discussion about a HAWK crossing.

I'm glad you're being proactive about this!

There is an attitude of indifference here from a lot of people. There is a big opportunity to create a nice walking path between the museums that should attract the same clientele.

Good to see new Construction Crains up in Phoenix
 

From the "Devine Legacy on Central" housing project on the 4500 North block of Central Avenue:

http://oi56.tinypic.com/311wdhd.jpg

http://nativeconnections.org/housing...acy-on-central

/\ thank you for posting that! I drove by it the other day, couldn't remember the name, and couldn't find anything on it online. it looks good (especially considering the current market circumstances).

I like that it looks to be pretty urban in design ie no setback and entrance off Central Ave.

http://nativeconnections.org/assets/...central-54.jpg

Just wish there was some ground retail although it probably won't ever get rented.

And some news just a little up the road, looks like Lux will be moving into the building next door. I like doing homework in there (even if the music seems a little too loud at times) and the owners don't ruin a good thing with them now serving alcohol and food.

I wish they could have kept the Lux current settup and make the place next door serve food and alcohol and re-do the North side of the building so it extends out into a enlarged outside sitting area.

Windsor Square also had their permits go through about a month ago and they have been doing some serious work on that place. Windows all taken out, interior completely gutted. I am excited to see what it evolves into.

overnight last night, they put in a HUGE sign on 7th street and Adams that says how to get to convention center, arenas, and science center. It's about the size of a freeway exit sign. Crazy ugly.

If one can't find the ballpark/arena/science ctr. from 7th St/Adams, then they are hopeless. Why put a HUGE sign there?!

i noticed a sign on 1st street and Van Buren the other day with directions to ASU, the ballparks, post office, ect. I haven't seen the one on 7th yet, but this sign was pretty nice. A good size and looked pretty urban, more of a pedestrian-friendly thing.

Also i have two things:
1. That FilmBar has pushed their opening back to Feb, 10th.
2. Does anyone know whats going on with the old Az Republic building on 2nd and Van Buren? It had a For Lease sign on it for a while, and now it looks like they are doing something to the doorways .They ripped the plaster off several places and i hope they dont plan to keep it that way. Makes the building look even worse.

I've been wondering what is going on with that building as well. It looks as though they are turning it into an empty shell and attempting to lease it as some sort of space. Without any windows I can't imagine what could go there...

There's one on Grand right before you hit 7th ave. and Van Buren.

I spent a month living in Guanajuato, Mexico this summer. The city is tucked into the mountains so there isn't a lot of room for cars. I had to walk everywhere and the streets were always packed. People came in from the bigger cities on the weekend and the whole place turned into a giant party. There are things I really like about living here, but it can get really frustrating because it will never be anything like that. Then again its not fair to compare most places to a town with 500 years of history, near perfect weather, college girls everywhere, and $1.25 beers.

...and yet you still live here and not there. ;)

Yeah...
The whole job thing. I need to figure out a way to retire at 32.

I'd be shocked if anything came of the fence project. I had tweeted them over a year ago about them and they told me it was being replaced. Shows how much progress they've made.