city of phoenix
Advise on Infill Development
Posted on 6/11/13 by DPJ Staff » No Comments
The City of Phoenix Planning and Development Department invites the community to provide input on the future of infill development.
Do you have experience in Infill Development?
Has Infill Development affected your neighborhood?
Ever thought about improvements for the city process?
We want your input!
Phoenix has formed an advisory group to review our rules and regulations for Infill Development and provide some recommendations for streamlining. We received so much interest in participating in the infill discussion that we had to find a way for many folks to participate.
To that end we have scheduled a number of public meetings for folks to share their experience and suggestions regarding the Infill Development Process. Staff will take feedback from these sessions to provide guidance and direction for the Infill Advisory Group.
To facilitate the discussions, we created targeted sessions for design professionals, contractors, developers/property owners, and neighborhood/community representatives. Of course, anyone can come to any meeting they like, but the Infill Advisory Group thought it would be more productive to group folks by profession, background and interests.
To get involved and share your suggestions regarding the Infill Development Process, please attend one of the public meetings listed below and/or submit your comments via email to darcy.kober@phoenix.gov.
If you go
Where: All sessions are free to attend and will be held in the Historic A.E. England Building (between 1st and Central avenues, just north of Van Buren Street)
Questions? Call 602-495-5411
| Multiple sessions available; pick one or more that apply to you. | ||
| Date | Time | Target Group |
| Thursday June 6th | 8am-10am | Design Professionals |
| Tuesday June 11th | 3pm-5pm | Developers/Property & Bus Owners |
| Wednesday June 12th | 8am-10am | Contractors |
| Friday June 14th | 8am-10am | Neighborhood/Community Reps |
| Friday June 14th | 3pm-5pm | Open |
Wire | Phoenix Selects Bike Share Program Provider
Posted on 6/10/13 by DPJ Staff » No Comments
DPJ’s Wire series delivers news and information straight from the source without translation.
The Phoenix City Council awarded a contract for a new bike share program at its formal city council [on Wednesday]. The winning bidder, CycleHop, LLC, will begin the process of implementing a system of short-term rentable bicycles, which is expected to be in operation by December, 2013.
Photo courtesy of City of Phoenix.
During the first year of the contract, CycleHop, LLC will establish and operate a bike share network that will include up to 500 bicycles throughout the city of Phoenix. Access to the network can be obtained by making a reservation via the internet or a mobile device. Short-term bike share users will pay about $5 to access the system for the first hour and then pay $2 for each additional half-hour period, with a daily maximum rate of $25. Annual members will pay less to access the system, with similar rates after the first hour of use.
“Phoenix deserves to be one of the most bike-friendly places in the country, and this new partnership is a great next step,” said Mayor Greg Stanton. “By developing this bike share program, we’re reminding residents and visitors alike that traveling on two wheels is a great way to see what Phoenix has to offer.”
The bicycles provided as part of the bike share program will use a GPS-enabled locking mechanism designed to connect with special hub locations. The bikes also will be able to lock at traditional bike racks if necessary.
Provide Input on the Adams Street Activation Study
Posted on 4/19/13 by DPJ Staff » 2 Comments
The City of Phoenix Community & Economic Development Department invites you to participate in one of two charrettes for the Adams Street Activation Study.
The study area consists of a two block span along Adams Street from Central Avenue to Second Street. The city procured the services of a professional design firm, Gensler, to conduct the study of the area to explore concepts to improve the pedestrian experience, enhance economic opportunities and connectivity on Adams Street between Central Avenue and Second Street.
Site map of the study area. Image provided by City of Phoenix.
Since the expansion of the Phoenix Convention Center and the additional development that has occurred in downtown over the past several years, this corridor has become one of the most heavily traveled pedestrian thoroughfares in the city, as it links the Convention Center, three downtown hotels, art and cultural destinations and is the heart of the central business district.
What’s a Charrette/Charette? DictionaryofConstruction.com
The Charrette Sessions
The first of two community charrettes seeking your input are scheduled on April 23rd and 24th from 3 to 6pm, at the Phoenix Convention Center. Please feel free to attend one or both of the sessions. In an effort to provide flexibility, the first charrette will be held on two days to allow for those with tight schedules to attend.
During the charrette session the consultant will seek input regarding design concepts and ideas on ways to improve the study area. The ideas/concepts and feedback obtained will be utilized to produce conceptual renderings/drawings that will be presented to the community (at a second community charrette session – date is to be determined) to gather additional input and feedback.
Once both community charrettes are completed, the consultant will draft a report with findings from the study, which will be presented to City Council.
The Charrette: Where & When
Date: Tuesday, April 23rd and Wednesday, April 24th
Time: 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Location: Phoenix Convention Center, West Building at 2nd St. & Adams, First Floor Arcade Area – Room 106 B
Parking: Available in the West Garage: Entrance is located just south of Monroe on 2nd St.
Do Something With This Space
Posted on 3/14/13 by Jen Urso » No Comments
It’s no news to anyone who lives in downtown Phoenix that there are a ton of vacant lots. I am deeply familiar with all of the ones in my Garfield neighborhood. I have photographed them, walked across them and located the remaining debris of homes on them. They are a very real part of the structure here and are more than just undeveloped areas of desert. They are built-upon, once-used, stripped clean, recovered with gravel and continuously trimmed and maintained pieces of land.
A vacant space in the Garfield neighborhood. From Jen Urso’s project “the things in between.”
When talking about these bits of patchwork that stretch throughout the city, the tendency is to talk about how these areas can be “developed.” We want someone to “do something” with this space, to fill it, or to make practical business use of it. We might think “store,” or “community garden.” Most developers might already have their eye on it as a place with increasing or decreasing property value that can be turned over for a profit and don’t care what it becomes.
A vacant lot in downtown Phoenix. From Urso’s “Vacant Walks”, 2007
More often what I tend to see is free, open space—a fact of the landscape that we regularly interact with on many different levels. I see a platform situated tightly within a community that could make relevant, temporary use of it. Why all this clamoring for indoor, stifling “art” space when we have a wide, vast outdoor venue that is just waiting to be drawn back into the city?
Some organizations and individuals have already begun to do this. Roosevelt Row CDC’s A.R.T.S. program managed to cultivate an entire field of sunflowers; INFLUX and the City of Phoenix are planning and realizing numerous arts projects on vacant spaces and even Mayor Greg Stanton has gotten involved by utilizing the space adjacent to Steele Indian School park for education, community farming and arts projects. “The Lot: What Should Go Here” poses the question to the community to think about what they’d want next to monOrchid. These people and organizations see the availability of this land as an opportunity to beautify our spaces and utilize them for the community’s creations.
These spaces also hold the potential for different types of work. Rather than putting the spaces through the same process of application, review and execution, individuals have the opportunity at any moment to interact meaningfully with this part of the landscape. An impromptu performance, a shortcut walking from one area to another, a place to fly a kite, an area of soft ground to run on (it’s more acceptable to run around a track?)—these allow us to see the land as less “vacant” as it is continuous.
From Urso’s 2007 piece “Vacant Walks”
While some areas may be fenced off and monitored, many others are available and have been for some time. What’s to stop someone from launching an impromptu, temporary and litter-less artwork? What would prevent us from inviting people to converge on a space for one hour to be part of a new performance, action, or participatory piece? New York-based 596 Acres has managed to organize a massive project that identifies all the vacant spaces in the city along with a path to activating them.
While the calls for proposals from places like INFLUX or the City of Phoenix ask us to consider a space, we also have the power within us to determine where to enact a project, with or without an organization’s approval. By regularly being present in these spaces, we can address them as something other than an off-limits area that should be looked at or treated differently. We create, through them, the same as what we have done with the once unpopulated sidewalks and streets of downtown Phoenix. By being physically present, we transform the space.
Wire | City Council Approves First Step in Developing ASU Center of Law
Posted on 12/12/12 by DPJ Staff » Comments Off
DPJ’s Wire series delivers news and information straight from the source without translation.
The Phoenix City Council last week approved city staff to begin negotiations and enter into contracts to facilitate Arizona State University’s development of the Arizona Center for Law and Society on city-controlled property in downtown Phoenix.
ASU proposes to develop the Arizona Center for Law and Society on approximately three-quarters of a block of city property bounded by Polk, Taylor, First and Second streets.
Conceptual rendering of the future Arizona Center of Law and Society. A design team has yet to be selected for the project, and construction is scheduled to begin in Spring 2014. The center is scheduled to open in Spring 2016. Image courtesy of ASU.
“Thank you to ASU, President Crow, my fellow council members and the Arizona Board of Regents for working so diligently in making this innovative move to our growing downtown Phoenix urban core,” said Mayor Greg Stanton. “This is more than just a move – it’s a major part of our city’s and region’s future and a place where ideas from some of the best law students in the country will contribute to our justice system and make Phoenix and Arizona a better place to live for generations to come.”
In addition to the hundreds of ongoing professional jobs created in Phoenix by this investment, approximately 1,000 construction-related jobs and $1 million in construction sales tax will be generated.
“Locating the College of Law in downtown Phoenix is a perfect match that will enhance the vibrant university campuses, create jobs and provide real-world educational benefits and opportunities for the law students,” said Vice Mayor Michael Johnson, chairman of the City Council’s Downtown, Aviation, Economy and Education Subcommittee.
The approximately $100 to $120 million, six-story facility will include the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law in approximately 250,000 to 300,000 square feet, as well as continuing legal education facilities, community legal services, public retail amenities and approximately 200 to 250 parking spaces.
“This is an investment that makes sense for ASU College of Law, its students and the city of Phoenix,” said Councilman Bill Gates. “The move will position one of our nation’s top public law schools within walking distance of local, state and federal courts, our state’s top law firms and business headquarters.”
“We are deeply grateful for the support we have received from Mayor Stanton and members of the City Council for our relocation to downtown Phoenix,” said Douglas Sylvester, dean of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. “We are excited about the opportunity to be situated in what has become the legal, government and corporate center of not only Phoenix, but of Arizona as a whole, and for the opportunity to further embed ourselves in the downtown community.”
Construction of the project is scheduled to begin in Spring 2014, completion of construction in late 2015. The center is scheduled to open in Spring 2016.
