The Phoenix City Council made (another) terrible decision regarding the re-development of Downtown. Apparently we have all been slightly misled because the City of Phoenix is not broke after all! In fact, they have $5 million bucks stashed away in a mattress somewhere, $5 million they will use to buy the Ramada Inn just to tear it down.
The Ramada Inn is one of the only buildings in Downtown Phoenix that is built correctly because it is built up to the street. Streetfront retail on city blocks is an absolutely necessary component of an urban city. It encourages pedestrians to walk and shop, which creates a healthy, vibrant, urban street. Street front retail is like a membrane of a cell and it allows economic activity to pass in and out. This membrane is missing from Downtown Phoenix.
To make matters worse the city has voted to tear down the Ramada Inn. The land will be used for…wait for it…parking! Yes, more heat absorbing, pedestrian hostile, useless, valueless, asphalt.
I sent emails to the entire City Council a few weeks ago begging them not to approve any demolitions. I don’t care if the city buys the land and the building, but why demolish what is there for more parking? It would be one thing if there were actually plans to break ground within 90 days to bring to the city a mixed use building, something with a residential component, retail, entertainment or restaurants. Instead, the Ramada Inn will be razed to build another parking lot for the Sheraton, the 1970s Las Vegas-style, turd-looking hotel the City owns. Why does the Sheraton need more parking?!
The Council says that eventually this land will be part of the future ASU expansion, but it’s not like there is a shortage of land Downtown where ASU could expand. The City owns plenty of land that could be developed before anything else is erased.
There has to be a shift in the way local politicians and the people of Phoenix think about development. If anyone from the Phoenix City Council is reading this, I beg you to send me an email and explain your rationale behind this foolish decision. More parking lots will only feed the suburban blob that ate Downtown Phoenix.
A mix of eclectic buildings, the old next to the new, is a great thing. Perhaps if Phoenix stopped knocking buildings down as if they are nothing more than a house of cards then Phoenix might actually feel like a real city, instead of some suburban hellhole where everything is sterile, bland and boring beyond belief.
Shame on you, Phoenix City Council.
Tags: downtown phoenix, Phoenix City Council, Ramada Inn, Urban Living
is it certain to be another parking lot? that’s sounds absurd! what does Phoenix need more parking for? I totally agree, this needs to be explained if not resolved!
I completely agree with you. When people come from other states to visit Phoenix, the majority of them seem to agree that Downtown Phoenix is ugly and uninviting. The plethera of single-story parking lots has a lot to do with the lack of aesthetic appeal. Miles and miles of flat, black asphalt are certainly unappealing to the eye. And while I do not begrudge a new ASU Law School downtown (which I will proudly attend when it is built), why not acquire the land now and leave the building that currently stands until speculators are able to afford to build something on it? Why acquire the land, demolish what is on it, and WAIT?
Also, this is not the first blog you have written regarding the tearing down of perfectly viable buildings downtown to replace them with parking lots. As you have illustrated, this is not the first time the City of Phoenix has taken this direction, and until more people speak out against it, it will not be the last.
The word on the street is that this will “eventually” end up the new law school. I blogged about this one as well… Soooo ticked about it being demolished versus restored for community use. The city / ASU should not touch be touching this site. Mid-century is tomorrow’s historic, people!!! Restore!!!
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Thanks urbancowgirl!! I did see you piece as well. There was a link to your story in an email I got. This decision really got me steamed up, and not because this building is historic (it’s not) or even architecturally stunning, but because it is a piece of our downtown that can never be replaced when it’s gone. If there were plans to actually build something NOW, I might feel a little different about the decision (probably not much) but there are no plans. It will be another parking lot, right across the street, from a parking lot.
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Unless I’m mistaken ASU is a state university. Why didn’t ASU buy one of the state buildings? Why is the city involved in this transaction? If ASU wanted to build at that location, why did the city buy the land? Who wants to bet that ASU doesn’t buy the land from the city?
Architecturally the style buildings being built downtown are ugly, uninteresting, lack detail, and look like nothing but metal and glass. What happens when the stainless steel trend is gone? Had the city stuck with spanish style architecture with attention to the enviorment, downtown would be perfect in my opinion.
What will the city do if the Suns decided they need a new arena?
Downtown is cramped, unattractive, lacks vision, & has no consideration for the city’s history or enviroment (excluding light rail..what a joke). It will always be ugly to me.
The city is being run like an HOA that lacks common sense or is it me that lacks common sense?. Instead of fixing problems they are creating new ones. The city council is missing the big picture.
As far as the parking lots being unattractive, I see both sides. A car dealership is nothing but a parking lot yet, nobody complains. So, what could lot owners do to make them more attractive without investing 10’s of thousands of dollars? Nobody wants to see more concrete or steel going up so a garage is out of the question. If surface lots didn’t exist where would you park? The I Robot parking garage isn’t realistic, cool and imaginative but not a viable solution. So, what is?
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