Wow! Welcome back, Andrew. Missed your posts. Still the same ranting but we're still hanging in there.

So Knoxville, Seattle, San Antonio, Spokane, New Orleans and St Louis can hosts Worlds Fairs, but not Phoenix?

I highly disagree.

Yah a bridge seems silly. Itll cost more and be used less, but at least cars won't have to slow down. So the City will rejoice over that.

Bingo on all points, but that's too logical for this city. (and I didn't know the PHX museum of history had closed)

I slightly disagree that The Pin would have to be built for a specific reason. Sure, typically things of this type are, and it would be better if it were built for the Centennial (The State made the worst use of that landmark historical date ever)... however, maybe the "point" of it is to show that Phoenix is on the rise and things are happening. In 50 years we'll look back and think "the Pin was built at a turning point in the history of Phoenix, look where we were before it, and now look at where we are".

And I'm completely fine with it be basically being all for the money. 99% of us do everything we do for the money. I don't understand the uproar people have when they realize that companies or people are looking to make a buck. Like the uproar that came about when people thought Instagram was going to sell their pictures for profit. I remember people retweeting what LeBron James said: "So i hear IG will start selling photos that posted for their own profit. Is this correct? If so then me and everyone i know will be OUT!!"

Like he's ever done anything in his life that wasn't to make money. You think Instagram was created and they worked so hard just to give you an easy filtered picture sharing app for fun and for free? No, somehow they want to make money, just like any entrepreneur. I get the protographer's rights and all that, but geez, give me a break LeBron (and everyone else that had a hissy fit) /endrant.

It closed in 2009 when the economy tanked. Frankly, it was a nice, but not really special museum, I think a lot of people gave it a pass. If it comes back, Id like to see them step up their game.

Does anyone know whats going on inside that building? Exit2lef maybe...?

And the Pin doesn't have to be built commemorating something, but it would be better.

If it opened at the beginning of 2015 (right before our next Super Bowl) it would be 150 years after the City of Phoenix was recognized as a town, had an election precinct formed, etc. We weren't incorporated until 1881, but 1865 is kinda the year the town was formed...so maybe that would be something.

It isn't that I don't think that Phoenix deserves one. But the nature of World Fairs has changed a lot. It used to be a huge event that was hosted all the time. I mean, in 1939, there were 3 different ones (NY, San Francisco and Liege, Belgium). Also, the event was predominantly a US and Europe thing. Now, the event is a lot more global, and a lot more spread apart. There are a lot more cities competing for it (especially in developing countries that are trying to prove to the world that they are ready to be global economies, such as China and Azerbaijan, which put a ton of money into these things to host the world), and it takes place every 2 or 3 years. This makes the odds of Phoenix getting it a lot tougher. I am not saying that Phoenix shouldn't try, but I don't think we have the presence or leadership to be able to land it at the moment.

Even though the cities you listed are all significantly smaller than Phoenix, most of them have a stronger historical and cultural presence, so that is why it is easier for them to get these things. (With Spokane being a big exception). New Orleans is the best example, it is a really small city compared to Phoenix, but it is one of the most important cultural centers for the country, and a city that attracts tons of international tourists. Phoenix definitely can and should be at that level, and I really hope that 15 years from now, it is as important as the 6th largest city should be.

I am excited that Phoenix is seriously considering going after the Panamerican games, I think that would help increase the international recognition of the city.

But this isn't a publicly funded project, right? Things like St. Louis Arch and Eiffel Tower, I assume, were public projects. I don't think a developer is going to build something that commemorates something that they don't really have much to do with, especially this developer. Maybe if it was Freeport McMoran, or someone with long ties to the city/state, and even then I doubt it.

Put the Musical Instrument Museum in there. That would be a great draw for downtown.

;)

I think we might be missing the point, but first, the Eiffel Tower and the Space Needle were not built as monuments they were only structures of modernity to impress for a World's Fair (only much later was the Eiffel Tower considered a monument). Which although sounds impressive (not that they weren't) are really just a showcase of a nation's (and city's) commercialism and "power" in the modern world. So really, how is this any different?

The architect said the idea behind the pin was to mark Phoenix's transition into one of the nation's largest city over the last few decades; to offer great views of the cityscape and the desert sunsets and mountains. It is in his mind, art work. Do we have to justify art now, or ambitious projects, especially in a city that has devalued such things...and the Developer did say the opening would coincide with events like the 2015 Super Bowl...adding more history like HooverDam noted would be worthy.

So?

(This sounds like a publicity stunt that some PR chick dreamed up. "Hey, how can we get people talking about X Co.?" "Oh, I know...," cooed the 21-year-old intern with bright blue eyes and heavy heaving breasts bursting out of her tight knit Christmas sweater.)

The developer is looking for private donations to fund it. Novawest is interested in creating dynamic/iconic places in the West. Their work at the Space Needle and involvement with management there underscores that. Are they trying to make money along the way and a name for themselves...of course.

As for the MIM at this thing, now it starts to rip off the Space Needle a little too much. Seattle has the Experience the Music Project wrapped around the Needle...

Why not a 22 year old intern with deep blue eyes, bulking biceps and a great backside pressing against his tight wool slacks...I mean if we are going that route got to be inclusive.

seriously?

Sweater Puppies!

The potential location of the pin should be up around Hance Park, or the Heard Museum. That way, one would get great views of midtown, DT, Camelback, and surrounding historic hoods...etc If its too far south, around the Science Museum, one would get an awesome view of endless miles of urban blight to the south and immediate east alongside rail yards, and a huge concrete swath also known as Sky Harbor.

Sweater cows...

cows make milk, puppies... well I just don't get that reference.

That is so true...I am liking the Hance Park idea and it was mentioned earlier by someone. It could be included in the redevelopment plans for the park. As to a pedestrian bridge over 7th Street, it would make much more sense to widen the sidewalks, and to make the the area around the museum, Science Center, and Heritage Square more walkable. Since that would mean putting 7th Street on a road diet, we are probably going to get an ugly bridge instead.

Agreed! Sorry, saying the same thing again, but this pin would be a huge draw for people who live and visit the valley. It needs to be located somewhere that really shows off the downtown culture that is beginning to take place. Hance would be perfect for this, being so close to Roosevelt and a light railstation. Putting it by a bunch of mass block, blank wall developments (convention center, ballpark, arena, parking garage, even the science center) does little in my mind to help show how Phoenix is developing.

Vice I'm sure your right... It's fun dreaming though. :)

They wont put 7th street on a diet, I promise you. It's looked at as an ingress/egress route and that likely will not ever change.

I was approached by a lady in the park the other day asking me ALL sorts of questions about how, as a visitor, I could enjoy the park more. My two points that were the largest were the signage. They stopped using that marquee probably because someone couldn't refrain from using the letters to create funny sentences. So now they have these festivals and nobody has a clue what is going on who lives in the neighborhood.

The other problem is parking for out of town or out of downtown visitors... it's not that there isn't parking, it's that it wisnt well marked.

I believe the AZ Science Center took over the building and upkeep of the items inside, but I don't know the long term plan. It might make sense to reopen the building as part of a merged museum of science and history.

I don't understand all the negative remarks about this observation tower. OK, so it doesn't represent anything in AZ. What should it be, then. A huge 500' cactus? A giant statue of Goldwater? No, and no. The point is, it's SOMETHING. We're leaving a huge part of this discussion out. Think of the spectacular views from all vantage points. Phoenix has arguably one of the best city-wide landscapes in the country. And if it were there, people would make a point to get to downtown to check it out. Point, blank, period.

The tower is hideous. Why do we need an observation tower? This "thing" is already being marketed as Phoenix's answer to the Space Needle. That's what it will forever be known as. That doesn't scream "uniquely" Phoenix to me. It screams of Phoenix trying to copy one of Seattle's claims to fame.

Phoenix does not have one of the best city-wide landscapes. We have a smoggy cityscape full of sprawl and small mountains as far as the eye can see.

We need to focus on densifying and not on ridiculous gimmicks like this.