What problems does Phoenix and metro areas have? (Tucson, Mesa: 2015, income)

[i'm not a cookie]

Originally Posted by observer53

It's likely never going to be the kind of downtown like is found in other major US cities, and it doesn't have to be. It's getting better, and will continue to. We are a long way from "the city REFUSES to make downtown desirable" (your words)


I've been in the Phoenix area (and on earth, for that matter ) decades longer than you have. The flaws of this city are well known to me. There are plenty of threads here about them already. Hopefully the OP is reading them, so that everything doesn't have to get rehashed here.

Yeah I agree, and LOL I was just pointing out two things in my own opinion that I thought was flawed about phoenix. Any who in terms of downtown I actually think that it CAN become a major hub in the phx area but to each their own.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by i'm not a cookie

Yeah I agree, and LOL I was just pointing out two things in my own opinion that I thought was flawed about phoenix. Any who in terms of downtown I actually think that it CAN become a major hub in the phx area but to each their own.

It's never going to feel like big city downtowns in the east and Midwest (think Chicago here), IMO. And, as I said, it doesn't have to. But it already feels a lot different than it did 20 or 30 years ago, and will keep moving in that direction. Your original comment still doesn't make sense, based on what you've said since, but I understand where you are coming from now, I think. It will be interesting to see what it looks like in another 10 years or so.

[kent_moore]

Agree on good things.

Need to improve:
- too spread out, need more vertical establishments, vertical parking.
- inefficient transportation/light rail system. Overhead light rail is better.
- decongest downtown by creating new establishments in the suburbs.
- more covered parking

[John7777]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

Yeah, a big-headed Sheriff and a handful of hardliners are PHX's biggest problems.

I guess the massive car theft problem, human-trafficking issues, drug cartels, illegal immigrants, prostitution, murder, theft, child abuse, and rampant drug abuse in PHX arent the biggest problems in your eyes?

Nope. If I had a magic wand and could change two things, I would have Arpaio lose the next election and I would banish all the religious right wing nuts. When you think about it, they're no better than the Taliban. Instead of Muslim, they're "Christian." And they'd like nothing better than to impose their religious beliefs and moral code on the entire human race. Truly sick people. And dangerous. Get rid of them and you'd be well on your way to having a nice city once again.

[GeneR]

Did someone forget to take their meds today?

[new2colo]

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

It goes to Downtown Phoenix, Midtown Phoenix, West Phoenix, East Central Phoenix, The Airport, Downtown Tempe, ASU and Downtown Mesa.

How is that nowhere?

Light rail does not go to West Phoenix. I hope you don't consider 19th Avenue the west side. Maybe it was in 1963, but not today. The point is that light rail does not conveniently serve the overwhelming majority of Phoenicians. It really is an obnoxious, poorly thought out nuisance. This is from someone who lived in Denver and frequently used the light rail there. The system here is slow, the light cycles on Central are beyond ridiculous, the system seems to serve transients, the mentally ill, and the homeless more than anyone else, enforcement of the honor system is a joke, and the timetable for system expansion is baffling. Good to see that Phoenix taxpayers approved a special transportation tax and now the I-10 expansion has been pushed back 7 years. What a joke. At some point this city needs to stop being mediocre at everything it does.

[i'm not a cookie]

Originally Posted by observer53

It's never going to feel like big city downtowns in the east and Midwest (think Chicago here), IMO. And, as I said, it doesn't have to. But it already feels a lot different than it did 20 or 30 years ago, and will keep moving in that direction. Your original comment still doesn't make sense, based on what you've said since, but I understand where you are coming from now, I think. It will be interesting to see what it looks like in another 10 years or so.

Oh I don't think it will ever be on the lines of chicago either and yeah I guess when I was saying that it could become a "desirable" downtown full of activity(including on the weekends) I was thinking more along the lines of Austin, denver, those types of cities. My original comment was that AT THE MOMENT our downtown is really lacking in my opinion. I did however say that I realize that it is starting to develop and if the city puts more time into improving our downtown then it could be a major hub in the phoenix area come ten or twenty years(I don't think that I articulated my statement that clearly first time around).

[observer53]

Originally Posted by new2colo

Light rail does not go to West Phoenix. I hope you don't consider 19th Avenue the west side. Maybe it was in 1963, but not today. The point is that light rail does not conveniently serve the overwhelming majority of Phoenicians. It really is an obnoxious, poorly thought out nuisance. This is from someone who lived in Denver and frequently used the light rail there. The system here is slow, the light cycles on Central are beyond ridiculous, the system seems to serve transients, the mentally ill, and the homeless more than anyone else, enforcement of the honor system is a joke, and the timetable for system expansion is baffling. Good to see that Phoenix taxpayers approved a special transportation tax and now the I-10 expansion has been pushed back 7 years. What a joke. At some point this city needs to stop being mediocre at everything it does.

I know you are negative about everything Phoenix, so the OP should have his grain of salt handy.


The LR emphasizes the East Valley to date because Mesa and Tempe offered more support for it.


You must not have ridden the LR during commuter hours (or office hours, for that matter). Are there a few homeless or those with some mental issues on there occasionally, especially at night? Yes. Are they a problem? No. And I've seen them get their tickets checked like everyone else. I had my pass checked muitiple times the last time I rode, and almost always get it checked once. And I watch them check others in the same car. Everyone seems to have a ticket, sometimes the ASU students forget to run their pass when they get on, but that's a different issue. So, the honor system, to my personal observation, is not "a joke". Can it expand fast enough? No. Is it the answer for the more far flung areas to the west that are not presently served? Probably not. Better bus service, or commuter rail using the existing track, if that could be worked out, could be brought on line much cheaper and quicker.

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by new2colo

Light rail does not go to West Phoenix. I hope you don't consider 19th Avenue the west side. Maybe it was in 1963, but not today. The point is that light rail does not conveniently serve the overwhelming majority of Phoenicians. It really is an obnoxious, poorly thought out nuisance. This is from someone who lived in Denver and frequently used the light rail there. The system here is slow, the light cycles on Central are beyond ridiculous, the system seems to serve transients, the mentally ill, and the homeless more than anyone else, enforcement of the honor system is a joke, and the timetable for system expansion is baffling. Good to see that Phoenix taxpayers approved a special transportation tax and now the I-10 expansion has been pushed back 7 years. What a joke. At some point this city needs to stop being mediocre at everything it does.

West Phoenix and the West side are two different things. It is in the western portion of the Phoenix city limits or what might be easier to say as West Phoenix... That part west of 7th Ave

Once you get further west along Bethany home you start approaching Glendale or what is called Not West Phoenix any longer. Maybe you could even consider it East Glendale? But these are more narrow terms than you're throwing around.

The rest of this is random negativity.

Where could it even go in the WV? Westgate and DT Glendale? They can't afford it.

[TempeAZnative]

Too many annoying transplants that complain about how Phoenix is nothing like where the ran from and try to change it to be like the horrible place the just escaped from.