Will Phoenix be able to develop a vibrant downtown

[IluvMpls]

Though Phoenix has a great deal of development going on downtown...will the city ever be able to attain the vibrancy and dense living/working spaces such as older cities?

[IluvMpls]

I posted this because I know many of us "midwesterners" head to either Phx or Scottsdale during the winter. I've seen a lot of great development going on...however, even with the new LRT I just don't think the region wants a "true" downtown. Its a city defined by the car...

[RiverwoodCLT]

Not for long if gas prices go up to over $5.oo a gal.

What do you have downtown in terms of retail, jobs and reidential.

Do they plan a LRT to downtown?

Do you have things downtown for people to visit, to see and do?

[DetroitBazaar]

No, I've lived there. It will never do it. IMO, The best they can hope for is LA.

Peace.

[hudkina]

There's no way in hell Phoenix can even come close to Los Angeles. Los Angeles was built extremely dense, despite not being a "tall" city. Phoenix is neither a tall nor a dense city.

[RustTown]

No, for the sole fact that the current city of Phoenix has only been in existense for a very short time, and came of age deeply within the age of the automobile. Phoenix had 106,818 in 1950. I think that profoundly shows how spread out the city is. Trust me, that growth to be the size it is today didn't occur downtown or even much in the central city.

This is the downtown of a modern city of 1,300,000+

[MJLO]

i'm glad you pointed out the youth of the city, a city growing that fast over that short of a time has to grow into itself. I have to go there three or four times a year, my parents live in scottsdale. It changes constantly and continues to grow at a lightening pace. It right now definately lacks certain, big city charms, in that there is almost as much to do in downtown Grand rapids as there is to do downtown Phoenix, There is some retail downthere, and it's getting better, don't discount it, or say it will "never" be like a certain place. All it needs is more time, the city is not in peril, I mean, It does have sprawl, but if sprawl made of broke a city, Atlanta would be in some serious trouble. As More People move to Phoenix it will continue to rise, and despite the fact that living in an oven sucks, It will suprise you all.

[RustTown]

But sprawl does. Barring some serious for future densification, it will take decades on end to build up Phoenix. Sprawl, but its definition, stretches resources thin, and sometimes to the point of collapse. The city is in a trickery predictment in that the old city of Phoenix will most certianly have to be raised to add density. It was a city built around the car, it will take decades for it to be rebuilt around humans.

If Detroit has become the poster child for the bad effects of urban decline, Phoenix is easily the poster child of the ill effects of sprawl. Even more so than Atlanta, that at least has the environment to support more sprawl.

[Sundodger]

Phoenix can develop a vibrant downtown. It has so much potential; location, state capitol, professional sports, etc. As Phoenix grows & matures, so will downtown. ASU is building a downtown campus there which should help too.

Even more so than Atlanta, that at least has the environment to support more sprawl.

What does this mean? Did you know the more Phoenix sprawls, the more water it opens up as sprawl is not nearly as water intensive as existing agriculture in the valley?