Quote:
Originally Posted by Shawn
I’ve been under the impression that Tempe has the best urbanity in Arizona for a while now. At least at any scale. Am I wrong here?
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I'd imagine this is correct. ASU coupled with the historic downtown area and Mill Avenue (a small but concentrated busy street with offices, bars, focus of pedestrian activity, and some remaining historic structures) combined with light rail, street car, densifying residential, and gobs of mid- to lower-high rise construction activity. Plus Tempe Town Lake and the future Coyotes Stadium district.
Tucson is probably close with very similar characteristics to Tempe but having larger areas of more historic threads left, but lacking the overall densification of new development and large scale projects compared to Tempe. Also lacking proximity to and connection via light rail to a major airport and other nodes of the City (i.e. Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa, all connected).
I'd say Downtown Phoenix is quickly catching up to or passing Tempe in terms of nightlife/recreation interest and pedestrian activity, and ahead of Tempe in many other aspects given it's the center of business, government, law, etc for Arizona. Plus it's on a giant roll for growth and development that isn't matched by Tempe, Scottsdale, or Tucson, nor shows signs of slowing in relation to the others.