You Are Viewing Downtown Phoenix

Cheers,
Sam
“You know you’re an Arizonan when a rainy day puts you in a good mood.”
Marshall Trimble, Official State Historian

Speaking of irony, isn’t it rad that an Ambassador for Downtown Phoenix sends people away from the heart of our city to Scottsdale and Tempe? That’s right, Steffin Newman said in a recent USA Today article that those are the places he recommends to tourists looking for night life because Downtown Phoenix is a “ghost town”. Just to recap, it is Steffin’s job to serve as an Ambassador for local businesses operating downtown. Awesome.

Tyler already offered up some comments – and an email to Downtown Phoenix Partnership CEO, David Roderique – so I’ll keep mine relatively short.

There is plenty to do downtown. Period. I named this blog Deserted After Dark with my tongue firmly in my cheek with the hope that I could help dispel a stigma two decades old – and entirely false. I’m not the only one invested in that work, either. Jacqui and Dave do a great job over at CenPho TV highlighting awesome happenings on a weekly basis. In addition, there is the Downtown Phoenix Journal, the Downtown Voices Coalition, the Copper Square website (which has a calendar of the 327 events happening downtown over the Holidays), and a whole slew of others that all do a fantastic job bringing attention to what’s going on in Downtown Phoenix. If you know of any other resources, I would be happy to hear about them in the comments section.

I’ll be at the Public Market tomorrow morning, which happens to be downtown. Weird.

I did the math, and if only 14 of you give $10 we can completely fund this project. According to FeedBurner, there are at least 45 of you that read this blog on a daily basis. Sounds pretty easy to me. Click this link or take a look at the widget over in the sidebar. Either way, you are making a lasting impact on the lives of students. But don’t take my word for it:

If you’re somewhere in or around Phoenix, don’t forget that tonight is another edition of the First Friday Artwalk. I’ll be checking out the new Ed Weston exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum, and then probably meandering my way through all the street vendors and ad hoc artists, towards a watering hole later in the evening.

Don’t forget the film screening tomorrow night. In the meantime, enjoy this:

Enter: coffee. I love the stuff. And now, I’m finding out that I can get a hint of that locavore mindset every time I indulge in that deliciousness…

Kevin over at Coffee Conversations put together a great list of Ways to Help the Independent Coffehouse. A few of my favorites:

Pay CASH for everything – There’s a bunch of rascally merchant provider salesmen out there who constantly work the independent coffeehouses and other small businesses to get them to switch their credit card processing to their company–promising low rates and then hitting them with exorbitant fees on a monthly basis. Even the legitimate merchant providers are a big expense for coffeehouses and being a small business normally means you have no room to negotiate with the big companies that run these credit card processing machines. Help your local coffeehouse owner by refusing to pay by credit or debit card because they in turn normally pay a flat fee plus a percentage of the sale (and then later monthly fees) so you can have convenient use of your card. Paying cash avoids all of this and helps keep an extra 2-5% where it will do the most good.

Live large by tipping large – Most independent coffeehouses are paying their employees everything they can but it can be difficult to retain and keep the really good ones with all the other expenses they have. If you’re given great service–but even if you’re given adequate service–be extravagant in tipping the guy who’s making your drink. He’ll remember you and the next time or two you’ll likely get what you ordered even faster.

Once you find that special place, BRAG BRAG BRAG – Tell your friends and neighbors all about this shop you’ve found and what you like about it so much. Insist that they tell their friends. In fact, just talk and talk about it. You’ll drive enough people crazy that eventually they’ll come to the coffeehouse to see what the fuss is all about. And once they’ve done that, mission accomplished! Now you are really helping your local coffeehouse to succeed and prosper.

And with heat like this in our little concrete jungle, it’s nice to know that there are people working hard to create spaces where it’s comfortable to hang out in this heat. Spaces like the Downtown Civic Space Park, which will serve as the Downtown Phoenix Campus student union. The entire project is funded by a city bond that you (if you live here) voted for in 2006, so the space is open to everyone, not just ASU students.

The park will be finished in the spring of ‘09, but until then you can track construction progress with a “Dean’s Eye View.” We installed a webcam here on the 6th floor to get a good look at the park. Besides a live feed, the camera also takes a still shot every fifteen (15) seconds, so when it’s all finished, we’ll have a nifty little time-lapse movie put together.

The City of Phoenix also has a camera, but they only take a still shot every half hour. Not nearly as fun, but the different angle is worth a look. And if you want to see a mock up of what it will look like finished, check out these mock ups.

Hey, speaking of parks, the voters of Phoenix recently passed (overwhelmingly) a thirty (30) year extension of the Phoenix Parks and Preserves Initiative. It’s only a one-tenth of one percent ($.001) sales tax allocation, but that little bugger has raised over $200 million to construct and refurbish the parks of Phoenix. This is all important because the City now wants to hear what you have to say about it before they make any final decisions in regards to where the money goes. They are holding a series of public meetings to hear from residents. For more information, call 602-262-6862.

Enjoy your weekend. It’s supposed to get down to eighty (80) the next few nights. Break out the cashmere…