Chloe Brooks | This Could Be Phoenix
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Author: Chloe Brooks

30 Apr

Lately, everywhere you look is a rack full of bright green bikes sporting smiley-face emoticons. It's Grid Bikes, a bike-share program that launched in Phoenix late last year. The majority of the program’s nearly 40 stations and 500 bicycles are clustered in Downtown and Midtown, and there are four different payment options: $5 hourly, $30 monthly, or $79 annually, with a student rate of $59 annually. The paid memberships all offer 60 free minutes of riding time per day. We've put together some of our favorite Grid Bikes rides and destinations. If you’re looking for a fun ride, use these maps and routes to start your journey.
07:35 / Urban Lifestyle & Culture
24 Apr

This week marks one month since the demolition of 222 E. Roosevelt, a former bar and lounge and local art gallery, and home to what were murals by famed Arizona painter Ted DeGrazia. The building had been slated for demolition for months, despite community outcry — there was an internet petition with more than 1,600 signatures to save the building and murals, and a Superbowl-weekend mock funeral for the neighborhood. There were plans to preserve the building by moving it to a new location, and then there weren't. And on March 20, bulldozers moved in. It was a sad story to watch unfold, but not all of Phoenix's preservation struggles end in a heap of paint dust and broken brick. Over the past decades, historic preservationists and Downtown advocates have had many successful moments in saving pieces of Phoenix history. Check out a few of the biggest ones below.
05:00 / Current Events & News
14 Apr

My introduction to the real Phoenix came at the hands of a coffee shop. It was a month or two into the school year, and I went with some of my friends to First Friday. Afterward, we stopped at Jobot for iced toddies. I'd never been in a local coffee shop before — raised in the suburbs, I was much more familiar with Starbucks — and I was fascinated by how many people were hanging out in those three small rooms talking and laughing and making friends. It's not something you see in a Starbucks, where if someone is at one of three tiny tables, they're in a suit, on a laptop, and don't want to be bothered. In the years since, I've grown to appreciate the value of third places — those crucial spots that facilitate socialization and interaction outside of home or work. Ray Oldenburg outlines just why third places are important in his book The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Hair Salons and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community. They offer an "escape or time-out from life's duties and drudgeries." They serve as a pick-me-up, and create new sets of acquaintances.
05:00 / Urban Lifestyle & Culture
26 Mar

If you've spent any time Downtown recently, you know that Phoenix is booming. This year it ranked 11th on Forbes' list of fastest-growing cities in America, and is projected to be the fourth largest U.S. city by 2020. This growth is perhaps most visible in the sheer amount of construction taking place, especially in the housing industry. Last month a Phoenix City Council subcommittee voted to recommend a request for proposals for a mixed-use residential and commercial development just south of Fillmore Street. A couple weeks ago developers broke ground on Union @ Roosevelt, another mixed-use development that will include commercial space at the street level and residences above. Portland on the Park is set to break ground at the end of this month. And last week, 222 E. Roosevelt was demolished to make way for a new residential tower being developed by Baron Properties. We could go on...
07:40 / Urban Lifestyle & Culture
20 Mar

A few weeks ago, we asked for your opinions on our Facebook page: What's the worst thing about parking in Downtown Phoenix? You gave us various different responses, and were extremely helpful in understanding the community's perception of what it's like to park in Downtown Phoenix. Let's face it: Parking is a touchy subject that lies at the center of a clash of lifestyles. It's a complex issue, and we get that. As part of our exploration into the topic of parking, we'll attempt to understand and explain some of its many facets in future blog posts. We want to do this thoroughly and factually so that we (and hopefully you!) can fully understand the problems our city is facing.
08:00 / City Infrastructure