Not to mention that a lot of the planned residential developments have either been scaled back (like the CityScape site...where all those cranes were in your pics) or canceled. Unfortunately, Phoenix has a bad habit of getting in the upswing in development right before the economy goes to crap
Although, the stuff that was finished is filling up nicely, apparently.
But yeah, most people still leave the DT area to do shopping, dining. That's how most in the valley are used to operating. That's SLOWLY changing.