University of Arizona Developments

[colin]

I saw this article in the paper this morning and it reminded me that I had wanted to take pictures of some of our nicer, newer buildings.

All seem to have this sort of copper vibe going on, and this is certainly no exception:

'We're world's best,' bold edifice trumpets

Also this from UA News about it winning a regional award:

Meinel Optical Sciences Expansion Wins Interior Design Awards

The building is actually not overly prominent on the scope of the whole campus, but it's still pretty nice.

I'll go over there tomorrow maybe and take some pictures of the exterior and inside.

I'll also post later and some other new campus buildings (there are several this year).

[ErinJ]

I saw this article in the paper this morning and it reminded me that I had wanted to take pictures of some of our nicer, newer buildings.

All seem to have this sort of copper vibe going on, and this is certainly no exception:

'We're world's best,' bold edifice trumpets

Also this from UA News about it winning a regional award:

Meinel Optical Sciences Expansion Wins Interior Design Awards

The building is actually not overly prominent on the scope of the whole campus, but it's still pretty nice.

I'll go over there tomorrow maybe and take some pictures of the exterior and inside.

I'll also post later and some other new campus buildings (there are several this year).

I am glad to hear the U outgrew the "every building must be 85% red brick" phase. I have heard they are going to build a second

mall, running north - south ( at the North-of-Speedway part of campus ). I hope it is as nice as the original.

[convulso]

I have heard they are going to build a second mall, running north - south ( at the North-of-Speedway part of campus ). I hope it is as nice as the original.

got any article links, etc., on this?

i'm kind of ambivalent about the mall design - although to have been done, UA's has been done well.

[colin]

A North-South Mall?

I don't know about that. There are several extended stretches of pedestrian-oriented streets on campus, especially as they approach the Speedway underpasses, but nothing on the scale of the Mall. They really don't have enough free space between buildings on campus at this point to do something like that.

The UMC area has undergone a lot of changes in the past two years, so there may be some sort of open space/walkway up there coming soon. Many streets have been closed, but mostly for new buildings.

[MJLO]

do you guys have any pics of the U of A campus? When was the university founded?

[colin]

"Arizona's First University!" 1885. One of the few things ASU people can't argue about.

There are some web cams on the official site. I have pictures of parking garages and shuttle buses on my work computer.

I built this page a long time ago as a geeky info site but the people who deal with the garages seemed to have no interest in maintaining it.

Click on one of the garages for pictures, then click on the thumbnails for larger versions.

http://parking.arizona.edu/about/garages.php

[ErinJ]

got any article links, etc., on this?

i'm kind of ambivalent about the mall design - although to have been done, UA's has been done well.

Here is a wildcat article. It doesn't give much details, especially about the scale, but he implies that "Warren Mall" will be similar to the current one.

http://media.wildcat.arizona.edu/media/sto...gepublisher.com

I somehow found this: on page 19 you can get more details about the "Warren Mall". Sounds like it won't

be as nice or large as the main mall, with more concrete , so you guys are correct. Lots of photos around the UA for MJLO. ( Be aware MJLO, some photo are of USC, so be sure to read the captions ).

It sounds like the UA is going to make the campus even more ped/bike friendly than it already is, yeah!

http://web.arizona.edu/~cfp/PDF_Files/Chap...com/er%205A.pdf

Another one, lots of photos and renderings:

http://web.arizona.edu/~cfp/PDF_Files/Chap...douts_11x17.pdf

Here is the architect of the campus plan:

Use the "Expertise" pulldown menu and click to -> "campus planning".

At the "campus planning" page, you'll see 7 thumbnail pictures toward the bottom. The leftmost picture

is the UA. They have a little slide show with conceptual renderings, which are in the above links., plus current photos of UA: #2 is a beautiful aeriel photo taken from the west side of campus.

http://www.asg-architects.com/

And finally, for MJLO here is a nice shot from a webcam feed from the Gould-Simpson building:

http://www.cs.arizona.edu/camera/

And some "best-of" pictures from that webcam:

http://www.cs.arizona.edu/camera/album/

[colin]

It sounds like the UA is going to make the campus even more ped/bike friendly than it already is, yeah!

Thanks for posting these, Erin.

It's important to note that UA is a parking nightmare right now (not to say that it has ever been great). This year has been much worse than last year. Even the commuter lots are sold out. Last year at this time, our new garage had at least 500 permits left. Right now it's either motorcycle permit, bus pass or lease a spot on the street from the City or a nearby business.

My department has invested in shuttle route improvements and, more importantly, bicycle enclosures to combat the very justified fear of having a bike stolen on campus. I personally ride a bike that I paid $10 for at a thrift store. So if someone actually bothered to steal it, it wouldn't bother me that much.

Most parking is being lost to construction of buildings on campus. From 2005-2006, we lost over 300 surface lot spaces in at least four different lots. We also have six or seven new "lot-specific" permit lots, which require a permit specific to the lot. That drives down the oversell ratio and thus the number of available permits.

The good thing about losing parking is that it's going to drive campus area developments by encouraging people to live closer. The land prices around campus are already nuts, and that will only force increased density. We should start seeing more proposals like Sam Hughes Place (not to say that I particularly like Sam Hughes Place) and The Lofts at Fifth Avenue around the campus area in the next few years.

[colin]

Oh, and more webcams from FDC if you're interested. They're only new construction projects though, so they switch out sometimes.

http://www.fdc.arizona.edu/webcam/

[colin]

A few of the latest buildings around campus. They kind of have a similar theme going.

Chemical Sciences (between the mall and Fourth Street next to the Chemistry Building):

East side:

North side:

Optical Sciences (University at Cherry):

South side entrance:

South side:

From the corner:

The Keating Building (Cherry at Speedway, still under construction):

West side:

Northwest side:

Northeast side:

East side:

From Speedway:

[convulso]

nice pics. the op-sci building is one of my favorite on the campus, and it complements some of the other newer mall buildings really well.

[colin]

Another article this morning about the new buildings (Medical Research and Keating) they're building up by the UMC. From what I've heard, they aren't that close to done on MRB.

New buildings at UA are labs of collaboration

[colin]

UA looks to make $9.3M in cuts over 2 years

Another in a long string of tuition hikes and budget cuts. Although, I don't blame the administration so much as I do... nevermind.

Luckily, my department is self-funded and in no danger of losing any cash or people over this.

[MJLO]

I would think the state and university would be in fine financial shape, what gives, why the cuts?

[colin]

UA College of Medicine in Phoenix to receive $5 million

Something for Phoenix. This could certainly be used in the near future for expansion.

[nuplanner]

Yes, many ASU students know ASU was not he first university. Really, many do not care who was first. But most UofA students do not know the story behind it and why it happened this way. At the time, the university was not a big thing.

I also loved how UofA whined about ASU making a move for a medical school in downtown phx, that is why UofA is involved in a joint med campus in downtown phx.

I used to work for the ASU University Architects office, and they have so many more projects planned than UofA does. Pres. Crow is the best president in any of the Arizona 3 universities. He has been making huge changes to ASU and what the New American University is all about.

[MJLO]

There is always in state competition between universities. ASU has gotten gigantic, but it's still behind alot of schools acedemically, so is U of A for that matter.

[nuplanner]

Tradition is not as big in this state either. Most people are transplants.

Both schools are getting better, but I honestly believe that the phx area needs another univeristy. ITs getting too big and ASU and UofA can't take everyone in.

[MJLO]

the creation of a new state funded institution would take decades to have the clout and draw that the two big schools have. Rome wasn't built over night, and those D1 schools have been around for in some cases centuries. There are tons of Commercial, private universities in the area, like U of PHoenix, and Ottawa University. Could any of these be converted in to an actual full time institution?

[colin]

I doubt it.

But you're totally right. The only reason UA South, the NAU/Western AZ thing in Yuma, and ASU West have been successful is because the degree actually says the name of a university that people will recognize.

Even if University of Phoenix started offering "real" classes, the diploma would still be seen as a "University of Phoenix degree," which you can take for how you'd like.

The only solution, I think, is to continue investing in satellite campuses. Probably a few more ASUs in the Valley would help, especially another in the East Valley, maybe even in Mesa.

[convulso]

i think a lot of the need for a fourth U depends greatly on what a university's mission is. if you're talking about universities based on the land grant prototype - that is, a univeristy whose mission is to train a work force - then yeah, i think AZ needs more. the population boom places great constraints on the existing three Us to train for vocations, whether those be high-end pursuits such as medicine or near blue-collar work such as low-level IT hardware specialists.

if we're talking about pure academics, i'm not so sure AZ needs or can sustain such an institution. the demand, even in sophisticated cities, isn't as strong for scholars as for workers, and that will become even more true as the population here increases. perhaps the lowly Us (such as U of P) are at least filling that role, at least insofar as their students are actually AZ residents.

whether a brand new state university could get off the ground in relatively short order is an interesting question. certainly i agree with you, MJ - it ain't gonna happen overnight. but the core of an institution (facilities, faculty, flagship academic programs, preliminary accreditation, and - most importantly - an administrative hierarchy) could be launched pretty rapidly, and, like all great Us with humble beginnings, could 'make do' with inadequate buildings, staff, etc. until it consolidates its strengths over time.

but, since that's all hypothetical, i'm with you, colin - extensions and satellites of the current institutions are the sensible way to go at present - especially for the two southern universities...imho.

[MJLO]

Arizona is simply too new, too big, too late. 5 out of six AZ residents live in a three county span. And the State has damn near trippled in population in 30 years. 100 years ago There should have been six giant state universities here, accept that, 100 years ago, there were cowboys and rattlesnakes in the valley. Without a need. The fake titties and Nissan Muranos came much later. A good deal of the workforce moving in is pre-educated. But there is something to be said. Why could not the state bankrole a Western Arizona University, or The University of Yuma. Or Yuma College. Take the existing satelite college infrastructure. Compound it, add student housing. The state could find a way to bankroll it, then make it supercheap for a while build a reputation, In Ten years, you'd have something substantial.

Look At Grand Valley State in Michigan, It was founded in 1969, now it has 24k students and teeters on the edge of being a D1 school. It can happen just needs the right planning

[convulso]

Arizona is simply too new, too big, too late.

[MJLO]

I am also not qualified to speculate on the why's. But three public universities catering to 6million people is a tad on the anemic side. NAU is much smaller than the other two. I'd imagine location has everything to do with it. I do know alot of people back east fantasize about going to ASU because it's a party school in a great climate. I personally think ASU does itself a disservice by admitting so many applicants. Part of a Uni's prestige comes from difficulty in admitance. Whereas it gives itself the appearance of "bob's college" by letting anyone in. Where I went to school you practically had to get on your knees and lick balls to get in. I think having one of these universities a little more stringent would do some good.

[ErinJ]

I am also not qualified to speculate on the why's. But three public universities catering to 6million people is a tad on the anemic side. NAU is much smaller than the other two. I'd imagine location has everything to do with it. I do know alot of people back east fantasize about going to ASU because it's a party school in a great climate. I personally think ASU does itself a disservice by admitting so many applicants. Part of a Uni's prestige comes from difficulty in admitance. Whereas it gives itself the appearance of "bob's college" by letting anyone in. Where I went to school you practically had to get on your knees and lick balls to get in. I think having one of these universities a little more stringent would do some good.