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Proud to be a Zealous Nut

Passion. It’s something that we all have. Most of us want to share it. But when push comes to shove, we tend to shy away from it and become modest. We are afraid. We don’t want to too assertive, be thought of as crazy, be called out as a fake.

Why? Who better to lead than someone passionate about the subject? Sure we may not posses the most technical knowledge or be the most polished representative of an idea. The fact that we care just a little too much isn’t a bad thing. Rather, it means that we are quick learners and will soak up the necessary knowledge like a sponge.

More importantly, the fact that we live sleep, eat and breathe a specific topic means that, unlike the technical or academic ’professionals,’ our ideas will often be more practical. This can make our ideas more valuable and likely to be accepted by others. Passion is contagious. Who would you rather listen to: a staid technician droning on about mundane details, or a passionate, but well versed, amateur exclaiming why she’s excited about a subject?

Yes. Knowledge is important. Facts are essential. Without them you really will be just a crazy nut. But passion is the magic idea that turns a good idea into a great one. Passion converts an interested observer into an active follower.

Passion also breeds tenacity. Change takes time. It takes persistence. When technical experts may have moved on to their next big idea, a passionate person is willing to stick with their idea and see it through, regardless of the obstacles. A technical expert is the hare: knowledge comes easy, but this can breed complacency. A passionate person is like the tortoise: willing to stick by their idea, even when all hope seems lost.

The world is fundamentally changing, in a subtle but powerful way. The era of narrowly defined professionals dictating our future is ending. Instead, they are becoming resources for passionate people who can transform their facts and figures into contagious actions.

So don’t be shy of your passion. Be proud to be considered a zealous nut. I am.

For more on how passion can bring about improvements in your community, read: In Praise of Zealous Nuts

Comments { 0 }

Suicide Lanes Kill Communities

This is the text of a letter to the editor I wrote in June 2008. It was in response to a Arizona Republic article on a Phoenix City Council vote about eliminating the ‘reversible’ (aka suicide) lanes on 7th Ave and 7th St. I couldn’t keep quiet after reading the typical ignorant responses on the azcentral.com website. So I wrote the letter below. To my surprise, it was actually published in the print edition of the Republic (although not online).

Alas, this letter—and several others like it—did not have any effect. Phoenix City Council deferred to the traffic engineers and north Phoenix residents and kept the suicide lanes in place for the foreseeable future. Nonetheless, the problem remains. With next week’s M7/Seventh Ave Street Fair focusing city-wide attention on this vibrant neighborhood, I thought it was a good time to dust of the letter and rekindle the debate again:

PHP48E9806492966 Suicide Lanes Kill Communities

Photo of Kurt Stickler, by Tom Tingle/The Arizona Republic

The push to remove the ‘suicide lane’ is a no brainer. Traffic engineers can debate whether reverse lanes have increases accident counts, but there is no doubt that it has hurt local neighborhoods and small businesses along it’s path.

Historically, streets served as places where we stopped for conversation and children played. Today, they are now more the domain of cars than people. Even where sidewalks and streetscapes are present along high-speed streets, they feel inhospitable and out-of-place. This is especially true on 7th Ave that, with the reverse lane, can have up to four lanes traveling in one direction—hardly an environment conducive to local neighborhoods or businesses. While the City of Phoenix should be lauded for ongoing investments in the Melrose on 7th Ave streetscape, the reverse lane has undermined many of these efforts. This lane marks 7th Ave a thruway to and from other destinations rather than reinforcing surrounding areas on both sides of 7th avenue as places for residents to socialize and enjoy art, restaurants and small businesses that this neighborhood offers.

With the pending opening of the light rail, central Phoenix has already made large strides in rethinking the city’s relationship with cars and traffic. Removing the reverse lanes would be another sensible step in the City’s progression from a conventional transportation focus on the automobile to a recognition of the role of transportation in shaping places for everybody to enjoy, whether they are in cars or not.

Please let me know what you think in the comments. If you agree with me and would like to see the reversible lanes removed, contact your City Councilor and ask that they revisit their short-sighted decision. Be sure to cc district 4 Councilor Tom Simplot. His district covers the ares most affected by the reversible lanes, including the Melrose Curve between Indian School and Camelback Rd. If you happen to live in District 6 (Sal DiCiccio or District 3 (Bill Gates), where the reversible lanes are also present, your support would also be appreciated.

This is day 19 in my 28 Day Blogging Challenge. 9 days to go.

Too Tall? Mormon Temple At Center Of Phoenix Resident’s Ballot Petition Drive (lezgetreal.com)
New Owners Re-Launch Century Plaza High-Rise as One Lexington (eon.businesswire.com)
Friday 5: Five articles that caught my attention this week (yuriartibise.com)

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Opportunity Mirage

The Big Apple
Motor City
Beantown
City of Angels
The Big Easy
Opportunity Oasis

Who’s the odd one out here?

Most major cities in the world have a nickname or brand. They can help in establishing a civic identity, helping outsiders recognize a community or attracting people to a community. They can also promote civic pride; and build community unity. Nicknames that successfully capture a city’s “ideology or myth” are also believed to have economic value in some cases.

The Metro Phoenix Partnership for Arts and Culture has chosen ‘Opportunity Oasis’ for Phoenix on the recommendation of Arthesia, a Zurich and L.A. based consulting firm. On Tuesday I attended a public presentation of the current status of the branding strategy. In the room with the usual suits and powers that be were a few social media colleagues, including Derek Neighbors, Tyler Hurst, Francine Hardaway and Ward Andrews. We were not impressed.

The Opportunity Oasis concept is part of MPAC’s Metro Phoenix DNA strategy book (which, alas is not online, more than a year after being published can be downloaded here.) It is based on three main ‘story ideas’: Urban Pioneers, Upscale Dessert Garden, and Open Space Thinking. Sure, there is a certain bureaucratic appeal to the concept of Opportunity Oasis. (After all it was done by a top-notch firm paid big dollars to come up with appealing concepts): it is iterative, it rolls of the tongue, it represents optimism. The fact is, however, that it doesn’t reflect reality. Not even close. Sure marketing campaigns are aspirational, but this is stretching things too far.

What I find ironic about this strategy is that the very name Phoenix was chosen as a brand for the region well over 100 years ago. It was chosen by Darrell Duppa to reflect that Phoenix is built on the ashes of past civilizationa. This is an apt metaphor that I’ll return to later.

Here is what I think when I hear the term: Opportunity Oasis.

Opportunity. Sure it is a cheap place to do business, if low ages and cheap rent are your only concerns. This is why WalMart is our #1 employer.

Oasis: Sure the Valley was once a desert oasis. It was first settled thousands of years ago on a fertile river crescent. Alas, over the past 50 years we have done everything to forget this. (Except for our golf courses and back lawns)

So yes Phoenix is an opportunity oasis if you have don’t need talented workforce, want cheap land, don’t need to connect with others on a regular basis, and like to play golf or mow lawns.

For the rest of us, Metro Phoenix is more of an Opportunity Mirage:

Instead of nurturing ‘Urban Pioneers’ we push aside those who have worked tirelessly on their business in favor of flashy new developers. We tell people with new ideas that they haven’t been here long enough to understand; we ignore worldviews that fall outside their engrained ways (ways that have led Phoenix into a constant boom and bust cycles.)

Instead of preserving our ‘Upscale Urban Garden,’ we bulldoze over the desert and replace it with red tiles roofs. We build McMansions up the side of our mountains. We turn our back on to our water sources (or make ‘fake lakes’ to entice developers.). We tear down historical building and put up Parking lot (apologies to Joni Mitchell)

Instead of promoting ‘Open Desert Thinking,’ we under fund our education system. We subsidize sprawl making it difficult to connect people with ideas. We let the Mormon Church and others of the ‘righteous right’ enforce their narrow social views on the rest of us.

Perhaps worst of all, we turn our backs on the very opportunities we seek. We are so amounted by attracting the shiny new firm, or any outsider for that matter, that we ignore the businesses that are growing under our nose.

The Way Out

Phoenix doesn’t need another marketing campaign or branding effort. We need live up to our name and rise from the ashes of our past bad decisions. Here some starting points:

Stop trying to lure the big fish. They don’t stick around for long (remember Google?) Low costs, government incentives and marketing campaigns are only a small part of the equation. Without focusing on the big things like talent and community, we are just creating a revolving door for business looking to exploit what we offer.

Stop the zero sum game of luring developers to build yet another retail epicenter to one Valley or another to enhance retail taxes takes. Instead look at ways to diversify our economy so we are not continually hit by real estate meltdowns. The current crisis was not the first, and won’t be the last. Instead of waiting for the cycle to start again, we need to find another cycle.

Focus on getting the fundamentals right. Re-think and re-balance our state tax system to be less dependent on high corporate taxes, even if it means individuals and property owners pay a bit more. Make sure that we offer a solid education system and natural and cultural offerings. Invest in multi-modal transit to weave stronger connections between the various hubs in the Valley. This will make it easier for people AND their ideas to connect. THESE are what attract talented people and innovative businesses.

MPAC has it backwards: they came up with a marketing campaign first and are acting second. While the MPAC report admits that Phoenix has its flaws, instead of endeavoring to correct them, they want to gloss them over with flashy magazines, yet another website and faux ‘viral’ video competition, and the now requisite iPhone app (that still isn’t quite ready…) We’re told that this is the first part of a long, multi-year process. I suggest that they go back and reevaluate their strategy and help Metro Phoenix get the fundamentals right first. Otherwise their Opportunity Oasis will be seen, not as an authentic expression of what the Valley represents, but as an Opportunity Mirage solely designed to attract the latest business looking for concessions.

* * *

Post Script 1: To their credit, Amy Heisler from MPAC has agreed to sit down and talk with me next week. I’ll be sharing these concerns and other with her. If you have any comments or concerns to add, please leave a comment.

Post Script 2: If you are indeed going to follow through on the Opportunity Oasis strategy, be sure to get some SEO advice. Right now a Google search shows up Francine Hardaway’s critique and two development firms. Not exactly the image you want to project, whether it’s meant for public consumption or not.

This is day 17 in my 28 Day Blogging Challenge. 11 days to go.

Meet Metro Phoenix (Again): Now Opportunity Oasis (stealthmode.com)
Your Boom and Bust Story (metrodcliving.com)
Phoenix is a (bad) cell phone company (tdhurst.com)

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CityScape: Suburbanizing Downtown Phoenix

Those of you who follow me on Twitter and Facebook know that I’m not a fan of CityScape. I was initially excited by the project and had high hopes that the city finally ‘got’ it. However, as the months went by the buildings went up, my excitement turned to guarded skepticism. This week any hopes I once had were dashed by the following three strikes:

Strike #1: Urban Form

I recently walked around the exterior of CityScape, Phoenix’s supposedly ‘exciting urban infill’ development. During this walk my suspensions were confirmed: far from being an authentic urban development that takes into account the surrounding urban fabric, it is yet another typical suburban development. I guess I was naïve to expect anything different from a project conceived in a Scottsdale business park and designed by an Seattle architect.

CityScape’s idea of urban form is to place a large-scale suburban pharmacy on one corner of the development and an elevator lobby on another corner. So much for encouraging an active street life or pedestrian activity downtown.

While I have no problems with the CVS Pharmacy, I do wish the design took up less street frontage (perhaps placing it on the second floor?). This would free up valuable street frontage for smaller scale businesses that would attract customers and window shoppers, enhancing the urban vitality of the development. Instead we got something like most other CVS’s with large blank walls and faux windows, punctuated by a small entry way or two.

Strike #2: Public Space

The supposed ‘park’ to replace the publicly owned Patriots Park, is not really a park, but an outdoor arcade on private property surrounded by buildings. Basically, this ‘park’ is designed for the office dwellers and patrons of the complex, NOT the citizens and residents of downtown Phoenix. Besides, we already have several downtown park spaces that are chronically under used, why do we need another?

Strike #3: Grocery Store

On Monday, we learned that the long promised grocery store in downtown Phoenix was not actually a grocery store, but rather a high-end food boutique. While I don’t have a problem with Oakville Grocery per se (especially if it keeps its promise to stock locally produced goods), I do take issue with is the conceit that it is a ‘grocery store’ that will meet the needs of downtown residents. There is only so much demand for handmade cheeses and gourmet sandwiches in downtown (and besides the Phoenix Public Market already offers these items and more.)

What is really needed downtown is a place to pick up toilet paper, laundry detergent, such as Fresh and Easy or even Trader Joes. However, I realize the difficulty in luring other grocers, particularly since the promised residential part of Cityscape is delayed indefinitely. This means that the population needed to support a real grocery store just isn’t there.

As a result of these three strikes, and several others, CityScape represents yet another failed attempt to revitalize downtown. It is basically a morphing of downtown’s last two failed ‘urban infill’ attempts: Collier Center and Arizona Center. Both these were supposed to enhance downtown’s urban fabric. Both failed miserably at this goal.

CityScapeAlex3 225x300 CityScape: Suburbanizing Downtown Phoenix

A Seattle-style tower in the dessert

The various civic ‘leaders’ who continue to push such misguided projects need to wake up. Instead of facilitating a downtown that ALL residents can enjoy, they have continued on the futile quest to keep suburbanites and tourists downtown after ball games or conventions by creating a suburban haven in the middle of the city.

These so-called leaders need to realize that what’s needed downtown isn’t foisting another new mega-project on us. Rather, we as a broad-based community need to radically rethink how we approach development. Until that happen, Phoenix will never realize the potential of being ‘Arizona’s Urban Heart.”

Developments such as Cityscape don’t take us closer to a true downtown; they move us further away. In Phoenix’s desperate attempt to attract suburban tourists, downtown is morphing into a suburb itself.

This is day 16 in my 28 Day Blogging Challenge. 12 days to go.

Urban Savoir-Faire

I first heard of the term ‘urban savoir-faire’ in a podcast by Adam Greenfield—the same podcast I learned about Schelling points. Adam describes how the increasing networked world we are living in, and the near ubiquity of smart phones is coming at the cost of traditional urban aspects of serendipity, solitude and anonymity. Together these aspects form the makings of ‘urban savoir faire.’ Such aspects are the intangibles of living in an urban environment. They give people an innate ability to navigate their city with a polished refinement.

From whentechlunches.com

Before ubiquitous computing, it took years, if not decades to understand the rhythm of a city; including such things as the true (vs. published) transit schedule, or the dive bar with the great grilled cheese. But once you understood it, you gained a panache and sense of accomplishment, and felt connected to the city in a unique way. Now, people don’t head to the light rail station until their iPhone tells them the next train is moments away, and use services like Yelp to find the great ‘hole in the wall.’ that is now packed with suburban ‘tourists.’ In other words, our increasing networked society has diminished the concept of urban obscurity and added a new level (and meaning) of transparency to the urban environment.

This in and of itself is not a bad thing. Our lives are a bit better, and definitely run smoother because of this shared knowledge. From a personal perspective, I would not have been able to get up to speed on the ins and outs of downtown and central Phoenix so quickly without such networked information. However, the soul of the city is in danger of being lost in this efficiency.

In this interview, Adam mentions sociologist’s Richard Sennett argument that what makes urbanity is “precisely the quality of necessary, daily, cheek-by-jowl confrontation with a panoply of the different.” I agree. When anybody can navigate a city easily, it becomes less of an authentic experience and more, for a lack of a better word, a suburban one. Ubiquitous computing smooths the rough edges from the urban experiences and eliminates many of the intangibles that make city life unique.

The challenge is: how do we take advantage of the benefits of the networked city, while keeping the concept of urban savoir-faire alive?

Let me know in he comment if you have any suggestions.

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Zero Tolerance=Zero Sense

Most people don’t give much thought to bad policies or legislation until they affect you, your family or your friends. Last week, I had a personal connection with the folly of Zero Tolerance in our schools.

One of the first things I learned when studying and practicing public policy is the impact of unintended consequences. Often bureaucrats enact public policies at the demands of the public in response to a perceived threat. While designed to solve one problem, they often cause many more. Such is the case with the Zero Tolerance policies at many schools in the United States.

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Zane and Stacey

Last week I received a frantic call from a good friend of mine, Stacey Champion. She told me that her son Zane was in danger of being expelled. You can read the full story here. But basically, on February 5^th, days before his 11^th birthday, Zane got caught with a small penknife in his bag at his school: Arizona School for the Arts. The knife was a gift from his father, Nate who is moving to San Diego. Even though the school administrators admit that this was a mistake, they recommended that he be EXPELLED. They explained to Stacey that while Zane a good kid and didn’t intentionally bring the penknife to school or mean to harm anyone, Zero Tolerance Policy ties the schools hands.

In the words of Stacey, “He’s not a perfect kid, but he’s a good kid, a smart kid.” Sure, he gets in trouble from time to time for the usual boy stuff – teasing girls, horseplay, and sometimes being too talkative and overly exuberant in class. Kid stuff. At the same time, Zane is one of the brightest and friendliest kinds I know. He plays the cello in the school orchestra, as well as the guitar and piano, he volunteers to help the homeless, and is an amazing artist and writer. Whenever I’m with him, I need to remind me that he’s only in 5^th grade.

Zane and his Father, Nate

To me, this incident shows the inanity of the Zero Tolerance policy, a policy that takes all discretion out of the hands of decision makers and turns them in to mindless robots whom simply apply rules without considering the evidence or implications. When educators refuse to use common sense and apply critical thinking, how do we expect their students to? Why are we paying them good money for their expertise and judgment when they REFUSE to use it?

The main shortcoming of zero tolerance policies is that they is that treat different threats of ‘violence’ as equally dangerous and deserving of the same consequences. So a 5th grade student who unwittingly brings a penknife to school is treated the same way as a 17 years old who brings a bowie-knife to threaten a teacher. Even Sheriff Joe understands the need for different sentences for offenses of different seriousness.

Zane

I have no problem with school discipline policies grounded in common sense. In fact, I can now see that some of the discipline that I received in school made me a better student and, ultimately a stronger citizen. Unfortunately, in the generation that has passed since I was in elementary school, most of the common sense and discretion that made this discipline effective.

We expect our children’s educators to have the skills and knowledge to teach behavior in age-appropriate ways. Unfortunately, zero tolerance is not rooted in theories of pedagogy or child development. It teaches children nothing about fairness, and often creates injustice. Worse yet, there is no credible evidence that zero tolerance reduces violence or drug abuse by students; there are clearly documented unintended, and sometime severe,negative consequences for both schools and students. Such policies have resulted in embarrassing publicity for schools and have been struck down by the courts.

There is a difference between being treated equally and being treated fairly. Kids are not going to respect teachers and administrators who cannot appreciate the difference between a penknife and a switch blade. How is Stacey supposed to teach my child about democracy and justice with a “one punishment fits all” policy? What will expelling Zane from the school he loves teach him? To lie at all costs? To give up? To never admit you made a mistake?

Instead of Zero Tolerance, schools should be promoting anti-violence programs like anti-bullying, anger management, and peer mediation help to reduce discipline problems in schools. Instead of expelling students for a single mistake, they should be involving students, families, and their communities in efforts to provide a safe learning environment and safety in school.

Zane’s case is being heard by the ASA Governing Board, at a closed Board hearing that will be taking place on Tuesday, February 23rd at 5:30 p.m. at the ASA campus. It is here where they will decide whether Zane with be expelled or not.

Zane and his sister, Zoe

Friends and neighbors of Stacey will be holding a rally for Zane tomorrow, Tuesday, February 23rd,starting at 5 pm outside of the ASA Campus at 1313 N. 2nd St in Phoenix. If you can, please come out and show, not only your opposition to the blind implementation of zero tolerance policies in our schools, but more importantly to show Zane that not all adults are like his school administrators and that some of use are willing to stand up for basic justice and common sense. Help turn this unfortunate turn of events in to a positive one by showing that there is power in numbers, and positive activism can elicit positive change. You can find out more about the rally, and RSVP here.

In addition, please show your support for Zane and Stacey, and opposition to the wrongheaded implementation of zero tolerance polices by signing this petition. There is power in numbers.

I am halfway through the 28 Day Blogging Challenge! 14 days to go

Are ‘zero tolerance’ policies really keeping kids safe? (timesunion.com)
Zero Tolerance School Policies Are Out Of Control (dvorak.org)
A key value for charter schools: No empty promises made to kids (crosscut.com)

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10 Reasons Why Civic Space Park Doesn’t Work

Last week, I wrote a post on Schelling points, or nodes of unconscious coordination, where people spontaneous identify as important meeting points in a city. When I asked if Phoenixhad such a place, there was no consensus, but several people did name the potential of Civic Space Park to become one. However, the park’s inability to draw larger crowds—other than when there are formally planned events—was also raised.

This got me thinking of why—despite being a great park on paper—Civic Space Park has yet to live up to its promise as a great urban space for downtown Phoenix. On the surface, the park is well designed for activity. It has a fountain for children and a café for teens and adults. It is easily accessible by public transit (both light rail and several buses), and is across the street from ASU downtown, the Westward Ho senior residences and several office buildings. It features, not one but three historic buildings (AE England, US Post Office, and Metro Office Building), and boasts some impressive public art. It features public restrooms, shade structures and trees and bike racks. It provides movable seating that allows people to decide where they want to sit in the space.

While I mused that perhaps it is simply that Phoenicians prefer to hide behind block walls than interact in public spaces, other than at ‘official events’, upon greater reflection, this isn’t the case. Several other urban parks in central Phoenix are well used most of the year, notably Encanto (recently named one of America’s Best City Parks by Forbes) and Steele Indian School Parks, so if it isn’t the people, why other than the odd student and homeless person, is it dead 90% of the time?

Here are ten reasons that I came up with (with suggestions from Facebook and Twitter):

The park is disconnected from its surrounding. The light rail tracks landscaping and fencing act as a barriers for people to casually enter or exit that park. This limits its popularity as an impromptu gathering place.
There is little parking in the immediate vicinity. While this shouldn’t be a major issue, given its proximity to transit and well-populated buildings, etc, we are in Phoenix after all, where cars still dominate.
It suffers from a malady common to several city parks: it is over landscaped. While there are a lot of places to sit, there are few open spaces to play. Popular park pastimes, such as Frisbee, soccer, etc, are inhibited by the unnecessary berms, mounds and other extraneous design flourishes. While these may add visual interest, they inhibit the discourage play.
The café, Fair Trade Civic Space, which never felt inviting, now has reduced its hours, The fact that it is hidden away in the ‘basement’ and is not visible from the street further limits its appeal and accessibility.
The A.E. England Building, while a great restoration, it under-utilized, leaving one of the most prominent features vacant the majority of the time. (Perhaps the café and meeting spaces should have been flipped.) The Post Office has yet to be integrated into the park, and there are no plans to include the Metro Office Building)
A heavy security presence. While there to deter homeless people, it also makes it feel uninviting for other users. Also the security is over zealous at times (i.e. telling people that they can’t WALK their bikes through the park)
Lack of a playground for children. Other than the fountain, which is often turned off, there are few areas for kids to play. Further, given the lay out of the park, it is hard for parents to keep an eye on their children as the run around corners, etc. As well, dogs—another great park demographic—are not welcome.
The grouping of the shade structures on the south side of the park, with little shade provided throughout the rest. The trees planted on the north side will take several years to mature (if they even make it; it looks like a few have already died.)
It is hard to convene public gatherings. There are no publicly available large tables, or other amenities for medium to large groups of people.
The name. Is there anything less inspiring than the bureaucratic ‘Civic Space Park’? (I have a sneaking suspicion that this moniker is but a placeholder until it is named ‘Phil Gordon’ Park.

Do you have anything to add? Want to come to the park’s defense? Leave a comment.

This is day 8 in my 28 Day Blogging Challenge. 20 days to go.

10 Responses to “10 Reasons Why Civic Space Park Doesn’t Work”

Tyler Hurst says:

February 16, 2010 at 10:21 am

I’d love to use it more, but there just isn’t any reason to.
Jose Gonzalez says:

February 16, 2010 at 10:32 am

I think your reasons are pretty spot on.

Outside of tweaking some of what you mentioned, I guess it might take good programming to get people there and hopefully have them think of it as a place they can visit outside of special events.

Also, I agree that the name is pretty uninviting. So, I will start calling it Jellyfish Park since it sounds silly and fun.
Wes Novack says:

February 16, 2010 at 10:44 am

You make some great points. Perhaps people choose to visit Encanto and Steele Indian school parkmore often due to:
1) The incumbent advantage. Encanto & Steele park are long-standing public spaces. They are more well known. People know what to expect there.
2) Habit & tradition. This ties in with #1. If a certain group holds a monthly meeting at Encanto or Steele park and they have for years, they’re not likely to change to a new park just because one popped up.
3) Space. You mentioned this in your post and I think it’s a BIG one. Encanto and Steele parks just have much more open space to accommodate a broader range of activities and groups. And parkingspace, as you mentioned.
4) Water/ponds. Civic space lacks this. Perhaps this is a draw for more people.

I don’t live downtown, but even if I did, I don’t see any compelling reasons to choose Civic Spacepark as a meeting ground. I hear they’ve been doing live music shows there, which is something that would interest me, but your post isn’t about events, just meeting places.
Matthew Petro says:

February 16, 2010 at 10:47 am

One of the problems with Civic Space Park is that it’s crammed between 1st Ave and Central, with both traffic and light rail running along its east and west sides. I think this connects it too much with the activity on the street and diminishes the relaxing park atmosphere which it should have. Good parks are respites from the hustle and bustle of urban life…they get people away from the street and provide an opportunity to play. Not only are there the issues you mentioned (overlandscaping and lack of a playground), but connecting the park to streets on two sides makes it seem less restful.
J Seth Anderson says:

February 16, 2010 at 11:15 am

I agree that the name is atrocious and hope that it is renamed sooner rather than later. (And I’d prefer it not be named after a person, but something more grand. The media referred to the Echelman sculpture as “Sky Bloom” and even though that’s not the actual title, I still think “Sky Bloom Park” sounds cool.)
You makes some great points but I think the major obstacle is that there are just not enough people who live downtown. Without an established neighborhood what’s the point of neighborhood park?
Overall I quite like it though. I’ve been to some fun and very crowded events there. But like most things in Phoenix, the park has a lot of potential that it hasn’t lived up to.
andrewkfromaz says:

February 16, 2010 at 12:17 pm

I think it’s a well-designed park, and that they did well with the space they had to work with. A big part of what’s currently “wrong” with the park is external issues: the nearest residential buildings are mostly vacant, ASU’s campus is not yet built out, and so on. I think none of the flaws you mentioned (though I do think they are fairly accurate) are true deal-breakers. Once the surrounding areas come into their own and flourish, the park will bustle with activity.

I am hugely disappointed w/ Fair Trade. If they’re not going to make any better use of the space than that, they need to close down and let someone in who will be more of a draw.
Steve Weiss says:

February 16, 2010 at 12:22 pm

Issues with parking and the meeting hall nature of A.E. England are good points. I like the idea of Fair trade or some other biz being above-ground. Maybe A.E. England could have been that Phoenix Museum of the Arts or even shared studio artspaces the City once sought during the last bond selection process. This would have cost much less than the heavy adaption inside.

The park was a gift to ASU to go along with their coming soon Student Union in the Post Office. It was built for this purpose, and to assuage the city residents for eliminating the center-of-the-city already built but woefully underfunded/poorly build and managed/never activated Patriot’s Park to make a mall with upscale bowling.

The park is tiny. I’m not so much disappointed with the shade(give it time)or the landscaping, and it was incredibly smart to have Echelman’s sculpture not take up ground-space. I like the sustainible ideas of the park. It’s the only park in Phoenix that will always have green grass. I dig coming over to it at night and playing next to the color pillars or laying under the sculpture. After 8 pm you can park at any of the 3 metered parking spaces,for free.

A first read made me wince with your use of “it’s” when you should be using “its”…”it’s” is a contraction of “it is”…easy thing to learn, hard to ignore.
Khamis says:

February 16, 2010 at 12:25 pm

Yuri I think you missed one major point. It doesn’t have to do with the design of the park, but it’s equal in importance. The lack of diverse uses around the park. Who lives within 1/2 mile. And the people that do live within 1/2 mile likely have closer (Roosevelt, the strange linear Portland Parkway) parks with some of the things you’re saying Civic Space lacks. The only people that use civic space are students more or less. There isn’t much use besides that going on around it, and until there is… (say redevelopment north of the Y along the west side of central) then I don’t see it becoming a huge success.

But of course things like the visibility of FT need to improve. I wonder why the city hasn’t put a HUGE sign with an arrow, or maybe a super graphic on A.E. that points peds to the shops down there. They’re new, people aren’t going to suddenly know to go down, but they will… people go down random alleys in Seattle because there are signs that announce there are shops down them, also they’ve been around, but there are still signs. The A-frames aren’t cutting it.

I also disagree with free parking being provided for what is suppose to be an urban park, in a pocketpark footprint. There are plenty of meters around the area.
Wes Novack says:

February 16, 2010 at 2:16 pm

@J Seth Anderson: Sky Bloom Park sounds awesome!
Yuri Artibise says:

February 16, 2010 at 4:48 pm

Thanks for all the great feedback and insights. I’ll remark on them later tonight when I have some time.

(And Steve, thanks for the comments regarding ‘its/it’s’ It makes me wince too, They should be fixed now… A downside of writing at 2am is my editing is worse than normal.)

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Gary Vee should stick to Video Blogging

I finally got around to reading Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk. If you are not familiar with Gary, he is a 30-something old entrepreneur who grew his family wine business from $4 million to $60 million in five years. Gary was an early social media adopter who used tools such as Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook to promote Wine Library TV, his video blog. I first heard about Gary Vee (as he’s popularly known) last October when he came to the East Valley to do a pair of speaking engagements and book signing. The first was a special presentation in Mesa, hosted by Doug Sutton with Keller Williams Realty East Valley (a video of that presentation is here). The second was a book signing at Tempe’s great independent bookstore, Changing Hands.

As I posted back in October, I was skeptical when I first head of Gary and his brand, but seeing him speak in front of two different audiences on the same night made me a believer. Though his message was largely the same, he carefully tailored it to the different audiences, keeping it fresh and interesting (if anything I though the second time was better suited to me personally, even with the lack of his trademark ‘colorful language’). Gary is somebody who gets it. Not just business, or social media, or family, or community, but ALL of it. I found myself nodding when Gary’s described how the Internet and social media have created amazing new opportunities for entrepreneurs with the know-how to fully use it. I also agreed with his call for relentless and disciplined branding in every way that this new media offers.

A few weeks ago, I finally got around to reading his book and I must say that I was under whelmed. The passion and authenticity that Gary radiated in person did not translate well in to the written form. Perhaps it is because his exuberance was filtered through a ghost writer, or he toned down his colorful language to appeal to a broader audience, or, as Gary admits in the book, simply that he dislikes writing. Regardless of the cause, the result is that the book comes of as an after thought of Gary’s, and a pale shadow of his speeches and video-casts. Worse yet, he doesn’t offer anything unique in his book that he doesn’t cover in his presentations; in fact the book glosses over some of the more interesting anecdotes he shared in person.

I understand that the audio book version narrated by Gary himself is much better as it contains the personality and authenticity lacking in the text version, so if you haven’t had the opportunity to hear Gary speak in person, and aren’t interested enough in wine to listen to Wine Library TV, I suggest to listen to the audio book.

Final Verdict: **1/2 Skip reading the book. Instead listen to the Audible download, or better yet, watch his video blog, where Gary REALLY shines.

This is day 7 in my 28 Day Blogging Challenge. 21 more to go.

On Friday’s TWiST – Gary Vaynerchuck (calacanis.com)
Suzan ColÃ³n: I’m Not a Writer; I’m a Brand (huffingtonpost.com)
Crushing It Explained (jillgolick.com)

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First Friday Folly

Another First Friday is upon us. What started out over 15 years ago as a way to bring people back to downtown, has turned into the largest event of its type in the country. Each month, over 100 venues open their doors and over 20,000 people converge on downtown. By any accounts it is a success. But this success has come at the price of a truly vibrant downtown.

If Phoenix wants to have a 24-7 downtown, with activity going every night of the week, we need to get out of the “let’s have an event on First Friday” mentality. I have no problem with the walk or small gallery openings, and I admit that First Fridays are a great way to get walk by traffic It is the slew of other events that could be held any night of the month and still draw an audience that I’m talking about. Does the Phoenix Art Museum really need to host its 50th Anniversary Party tonight? Or the Latino Cultural Center Grand Opening? Or the All Hands on Deck finale at After Hours Gallery? I would love to attend each of these great events, and would gladly have done so if they were held on any other night of the month. I’m sure there are hundreds of other people who would have as well.

1493392699 189958b011 First Friday Folly

Flickr image by labanex.com

So why hold event such as these on First Fridays? These events will draw their own audiences regardless of when they are held. Holding them tonight only dilute the audiences for other smaller galleries and openings that also deserve our attention. Moreover, the gaggle of events on First Friday mean that they will be other nights throughout each month when downtown will continue to fade to black after the offices close and classes end.

I’m not blaming the event organizers, per se. After all they are playing by the informal rules established by over a decade of habit. There once was a time that the only day a month that many people would dare venture into downtown Phoenix after dark was with the crowds that formed on First Fridays. Over the past several years, however, this has changed. Downtown is now a safe place any night of the week. The only thing missing are things to do other than catch a game, eat out or grab a pint.

Downtown Phoenix has enough activities to keep it going strong almost every night of the week. The problem is they are all clumped together on a select few nights a month. To be a truly vibrant downtown, these events need to start occurring throughout the month.

To be sure, things are changing slowly. As an example, SideBar’s 1st Anniversary Party held this past Wednesday was a huge success. Hundreds of people proved that they are willing to venture out in the middle of the week to attend an event. Sure SideBar could have waited until tonight for the party, but they didn’t need to. This allowed people to enjoy downtown Phoenix on a weeknight freeing their First Friday for the hundreds of other events going on. In addition, many of those in attendance stopped by other downtown establishments for dinner before hand, or drinks afterward, bringing customers to the central core on an otherwise quiet night for most businesses. Events like this is a small but important step towards a vibrant downtown more than one day a month.

Next time you want to hold an event—and are thinking of doing so on a First Friday—ask yourself if it could be held on another night of the month. And if you normally only venture downtown for First Fridays keep an eye open for other events going on throughout the month. It is only by overcoming Phoenix’s First Friday folly that we will achieve a truly vibrant downtown.

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Downtown Phoenix: Don't Hate the Haters

Recently there has been a lot of discussion in the blogosphere on the shortcomings of downtown Phoenix, my adopted hometown. First, there was some consternation that events like Ignite Phoenix and TEDxPhoenix, were in fact not held in Phoenix at all and therefore not to be attended by ‘true Phoenicians.’

In addition, there have been posts from bloggers like Derek Neighbors, Tyler Hurst, and the Downtown Devil explaining what they see as downtown Phoenix’s shortcomings. And of course there is Jon Talton, the ‘exiled’ Arizona Republic journalist who doesn’t pull punches when describing what has happened to his beloved home town. All of these people and their writings have raised the hackles of some downtown Phoenix cheerleaders. However, all of these people are deeply engaged in their communities in their own ways, something that many cheerleaders are not (Hint to cheerleaders: eating dinner at a local restaurant does not make you active in the community).

As an incurable urbanist, I am excited by what’s going on downtown, and have been one of the area’s biggest boosters. I am a firm believer that the only thing worse than unconstructive criticism however, is blind boosterism. As such, I am not blind to the fact that downtown Phoenix is a work in progress that still has a long way to go before it becomes a truly vibrant urban hub and I’m grateful that the above people are willing to point out its flaws.

Yes downtown has come a long way over the past 10 years (and especially the last 5 years). However, all this work has barely laid the foundation for a ‘real’ downtown; an urban space that offers a mixture of opportunities to live, work and play. It is far to early to sit back and proclaim that downtown Phoenix has arrived, and definitely too early to castigate those who dare to point out the remaining shortcomings and hurdles that the downtown core faces.

Boycotting events or ignoring those you disagree with is no way to help the city or region grow. So rather than write of the comments of Derek, Tyler or Jon, why not listen to them and learn how others see the city? Sure you may disagree with some, or all of their points, but chances are you will re-examine your perspectives and may even find some common ground with the critics to work with. By simply writing the critics writing them off as negative cranks, however, you are missing an opportunity to improve your city.

There are plenty of opportunities to share your opinions and ideas. To begin with, share your opinions in the comment section of this post, or TD‚ Derek‚ or others. Better yet, invite the critics out for lunch coffee or a beer (we are extremely social people) or start up a conversation at your local coffee shop or pub; downtowners are more than willing to share their impressions on what is going on in the communities and engage in constructive debates on where the city is heading.

The point is to get involved and get engaged in your community and neighborhood. Sitting back and cheering is just as bad as sitting back and complaining. After-all, it is only by acknowledging our shortcomings that we care able to address them and help realize downtown Phoenix’s full potential.