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Old 07-27-2016, 05:31 PM
 
226 posts, read 227,554 times
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Does anyone know whose brilliant idea it was to have Phoenix build a downtown core of maybe 10 high rises, and then a loooong Central Corridor with high rises all the way to basically Camelback Road? Why couldn't structures like the 3300 Tower, BMO Tower, etc. have been built closer to the Chase Tower, US Bank Tower, etc..? I don't know of any other American city like this. Most cities have a concentrated downtown core, but no extensions of high rises down a major avenue or street. It just seems bizarre. Cheap land up Central back in the day must be the reason...
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Old 07-27-2016, 05:39 PM
 
594 posts, read 699,426 times
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20 years from now you'll be screaming what a great idea it was....
We be growin BRAH !
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Old 07-27-2016, 05:55 PM
 
Location: The Wild Wild West
44,637 posts, read 61,653,458 times
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It's what's available at the time.
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Old 07-27-2016, 06:58 PM
 
1,629 posts, read 2,630,819 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Renegade007 View Post
Does anyone know whose brilliant idea it was to have Phoenix build a downtown core of maybe 10 high rises, and then a loooong Central Corridor with high rises all the way to basically Camelback Road? Why couldn't structures like the 3300 Tower, BMO Tower, etc. have been built closer to the Chase Tower, US Bank Tower, etc..? I don't know of any other American city like this. Most cities have a concentrated downtown core, but no extensions of high rises down a major avenue or street. It just seems bizarre. Cheap land up Central back in the day must be the reason...
It was no one person. Land costs, lack of parking, and residential sprawl led developers out of downtown. The state of downtown is really due to the actions of city planners 55+ years ago. Downtown was the hub of "highrises" until 1960, when the tallest building in Arizona at the time was built at Central and Catalina (just north of Thomas). As far back as 1964, developers were proposing highrises in the 24th Street and Camelback area, all of which were denied by the city at the time. To prevent developers from proposing high rises all over the place and ruining views, the city negotiated to change the zoning along Central from downtown north to Camelback to accommodate highrise development. Central became the place to be for highrise development from around 1960 until the early 1990s. The goal was to turn this section of Central into Phoenix's verison of LA's Miracle Mile on Wilshire Blvd.

Obviously downtown had some highrise construction with the hotels, government buildings, Chase, US Bank and Wells Fargo, but the area has been in constant competition with the Central Corridor. The city also broke down to the pressure of developers by allowing highrise construction in the 24th/Camelback area starting in the late 1980s. Now downtown is not only competing with the Central and Camelback Corridors, but office hot spots in Tempe, Deer Valley, Scottsdale, and throughout the East Valley. What's interesting is how the Central Corridor is now in decline because of office development farther out. It's the constant cannibalization that has characterized the Valley's real estate market for a century.
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Old 07-27-2016, 07:42 PM
 
4,222 posts, read 3,739,321 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Renegade007 View Post
Does anyone know whose brilliant idea it was to have Phoenix build a downtown core of maybe 10 high rises, and then a loooong Central Corridor with high rises all the way to basically Camelback Road? Why couldn't structures like the 3300 Tower, BMO Tower, etc. have been built closer to the Chase Tower, US Bank Tower, etc..? I don't know of any other American city like this. Most cities have a concentrated downtown core, but no extensions of high rises down a major avenue or street. It just seems bizarre. Cheap land up Central back in the day must be the reason...
When you say "you don't know any other American city like this" how many have you actually been to? I can think of quite a few that have multiple skylines.

Boston has the financial district which is separated from the Back Bay
New York has Downtown and Uptown
Atlanta has downtown and Midtown
Houston has downtown and the medical center, which is a downtown in and of itself
LA has many downtown's Century City, Westwood, Hollywood all separated by various distances for no obvious reason
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Old 07-27-2016, 10:15 PM
 
597 posts, read 667,783 times
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How far is it from the traditional downtown area to the Central Avenue Corridor. While still two distinct places, aren't they in a sense a part of a "greater downtown Phoenix" - sort of like how downtown, Midtown, Uptown in NYC is all part of the cohesive Manhattan whole? Or not?
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Old 07-27-2016, 10:45 PM
 
Location: Avondale and Tempe, Arizona
2,852 posts, read 4,504,591 times
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It's not too odd for a city to have more than one highrise district.

Downtown is the main hub and midtown is the other.

The big difference between downtown and midtown is downtown has more activity and midtown is a deadzone after the evening crush hour.
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Old 07-28-2016, 01:31 AM
 
1,629 posts, read 2,630,819 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by goillini8 View Post
How far is it from the traditional downtown area to the Central Avenue Corridor. While still two distinct places, aren't they in a sense a part of a "greater downtown Phoenix" - sort of like how downtown, Midtown, Uptown in NYC is all part of the cohesive Manhattan whole? Or not?
According to local media, it's all "Central Phoenix." Most people, however, don't consider the downtown and the Central Corridor to be "greater downtown Phoenix." They are two distinct areas. Depending on who you talk to, downtown goes no farther north than Roosevelt or McDowell. The Central Corridor starts from the BMO Building at Central and Palm Lane and extends north.
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Old 07-28-2016, 01:32 AM
 
1,629 posts, read 2,630,819 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Java Jolt View Post
It's not too odd for a city to have more than one highrise district.

Downtown is the main hub and midtown is the other.

The big difference between downtown and midtown is downtown has more activity and midtown is a deadzone after the evening crush hour.
Exactly. Look at Houston, Atlanta, Denver, Miami, etc. There's more than one highrise district and they're usually much farther apart than our downtown and Midtown.
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Old 07-28-2016, 07:05 AM
 
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
27,606 posts, read 14,623,335 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by new2colo View Post
According to local media, it's all "Central Phoenix." Most people, however, don't consider the downtown and the Central Corridor to be "greater downtown Phoenix." They are two distinct areas. Depending on who you talk to, downtown goes no farther north than Roosevelt or McDowell. The Central Corridor starts from the BMO Building at Central and Palm Lane and extends north.
I always considered the 10 to be the split between Downtown and Midtown
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