[HX_Guy]

[Phoenix seeks ideas on how to make downtown more pedestrian-friendly

By Eugene Scott
The Republic | azcentral.com
Tue Feb 19, 2013 10:17 AM
As part of their ongoing efforts to energize downtown, Phoenix leaders want to make key parts of the city’s core more walkable.

The question is: How?

Should the city close off streets and transform an area into a pedestrian mall? Does downtown need wider sidewalks and more bicycle lanes? Should the city install more shade structures to make Phoenix temperatures bearable?

City officials plan to hire a consultant who will make recommendations to the City Council by summer on just how to make the area more “walkable.”

This next step in downtown’s evolution is one that city officials believe local residents and business owners will embrace.

Valley residents are eager to be out and about in the city, said Aaron Golub, an assistant professor in the Arizona State University School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning.

“Phoenix isn’t New York City, but it has more pedestrian activity at certain hours than it did 10 years ago,” he said. “You have particular events like First Fridays, which prove that people are ready to go out and do some walking.”

Ten consultants submitted proposals to develop a master-plan study. The city hopes to pick one in March.

City officials have identified two potential focus areas: Adams Street between Central Avenue and Second Street, which they say is one of downtown’s most heavily traveled areas by foot. The strip connects the Phoenix Convention Center and three downtown hotels with the heart of the central business district.

They also want to look at First Street between Washington and Monroe streets.

“One of the goals of the study is to explore concepts that maximize connectivity between area businesses, light rail, entertainment venues and hotels,” said Joni Lindsey, project-management assistant for the city’s Community and Economic Development Department.

These potential projects are just a continuation of what the city has already done to make downtown Phoenix more pedestrian-friendly, said Eric Johnson, economic development program manager in the economic-development office. The city has added trees and other vegetation and shading as well as improved sidewalks in some areas.

Councilman Michael Nowakowski has said he’d like to see a pedestrian mall on First Street from Hance Park to the US Airways Center.

“With ASU Downtown expanding, I want students to have something that keeps them in downtown on the weekends and in the evenings,” he said. “Downtown should be a destination point for residents as well as visitors.”

But some downtown activists said pedestrian malls are the wrong step.

“Mostly what happens when cities put in pedestrian malls is the streets become abandoned and the businesses go out of business,” said Will Novak, a member of the Thunderdome Neighborhood Association for Non-Auto Mobility, a group working to make Phoenix more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly.

Of the more than 200 pedestrian malls that once filled American’s downtowns, fewer than 15 percent still exist, according to Governing Magazine, a Washington, D.C.,-based publication focused on state and local governments.

A downtown Phoenix pedestrian mall would be too similar to Tempe Marketplace and SanTan Village for suburban residents, Novak said.

“If they have a shopping mall near their house, why go all the way downtown to go to something that’s the same?” he asked.

The key to making downtown Phoenix more economically vital is building more bicycle lanes, safer sidewalks and parallel parking, Novak said. This will attract more than just drivers, but people who travel mainly on public transportation, bicycle and foot.

Golub said downtown must become greener if it wants to attract more visitors.

“There’s a need for more shade and trees. The temperatures are very high, ... and they are only going to get higher with climate change,” he said. “The need for human-made shade and trees and natural vegetation will help with low temperatures.”