downtown phoenix has been invaded (house, restaurant, shops)

[asufan]

Originally Posted by nala1908

Much more than you my man. It's not hard to have your say also if you get involved.

I don't know about that. I built some housing projects downtown and know some people really well. Lets keep the big corporations coming.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by Java Jolt

It is north of downtown but it still doesn't mean supertall buildings should be constructed there, it would look out of place.

The height of the Phoenix skyline is fine as it is but more equally tall highrises in the downtown-midtown gap would be a nice fill-in.

I'm thinking more buildings like the planned mixed-use residential tower with a Fry's supermarket on the lower level could be built. That area could be more active with those projects.

People get way too obsessed with height in Cities. Great cities in Europe have few buildings over 10 stories. Vancouver and DC don't have tall buildings, Neither does savannah and relatively speaking LA is incredibly low rise overall.


Good cities come from good street interaction and density not 80 story buildings. In fact those are usually dead zones around the base.


Id be fine with a downtown of a bunch of 5-20 story buildings tbh

[asufan]

Originally Posted by Obadno

People get way too obsessed with height in Cities. Great cities in Europe have few buildings over 10 stories. Vancouver and DC don't have tall buildings, Neither does savannah and relatively speaking LA is incredibly low rise overall.


Good cities come from good street interaction and density not 80 story buildings. In fact those are usually dead zones around the base.


Id be fine with a downtown of a bunch of 5-20 story buildings tbh

A tall building gives a downtown a sense of place. LA has the two tallest towers on the West Coast and does this well. I don't think it's necessary but it is beneficial as there is then no question where downtown Phoenix is (with the "high rises" currently so spread out it is hard to tell where the real downtown is).

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by Obadno

People get way too obsessed with height in Cities. Great cities in Europe have few buildings over 10 stories.

But this isn't Europe ... it's the United States, and most big cities here have tall downtown skylines. It implies success, as well as national & global status.

Originally Posted by Obadno

Vancouver and DC don't have tall buildings, Neither does savannah and relatively speaking LA is incredibly low rise overall.

Savannah? OK, whatever. DC is the only American city that I know of which purposely doesn't have a tall skyline. Vancouver has plenty of highrises. L.A. used to be mostly low rise, but they finally became smarter & built upward in the last couple of decades, and now it has a very impressive skyline compared to 20 or 30 years ago.

Originally Posted by Obadno

Id be fine with a downtown of a bunch of 5-20 story buildings tbh

So why don't you move to a city like that? Phoenix has highrises that are over 20 stories in case you didn't notice, but there should be a push to build taller. Like I've already stated, if you would rather have small business and small buildings, a small town would be better for you. The last thing Phoenix needs is a bunch of anti business NIMBYs with no real purpose in life except to protest progress & development.

[nala1908]

You believe progress in development is measured by the height of buildings. For what? Empty streetscapes and parking garages. Go back to the suburbs valley native we all know you don't know what a real downtown entails.
THE MEGA TALL AREAS OF CITIES ARE NOT WHERE PEOPLE LIVE OR PLAY. They are employment centers ONLY..

What we need is mixed use building and communities. No matter the size. Of course building upwards is always better. But we can't skip the steps in between.

THE ONLY REASON TO BUILD DENSER IS IF THAT AREA HAS THE DEMAND TO SUPPORT IT. That means we need places to live, work, eat, and play within WALKING DISTANCE. That means no car, no suburbs, no 8 lane streets, no 16 lane highways.

That means we need places to work, live, eat, and play very close together

[Renegade007]

Originally Posted by asufan

A tall building gives a downtown a sense of place. LA has the two tallest towers on the West Coast and does this well. I don't think it's necessary but it is beneficial as there is then no question where downtown Phoenix is (with the "high rises" currently so spread out it is hard to tell where the real downtown is).

Phoenix has the Chase Tower, US Bank Tower and Wells Fargo tower downtown. Not too shabby. And then a 3 or 4 mile stretch up Central with a bunch of high rises. That is a very long and very linear "downtown".

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by nala1908

You believe progress in development is measured by the height of buildings. For what? Empty streetscapes and parking garages. Go back to the suburbs valley native we all know you don't know what a real downtown entails.

I know what a true downtown SHOULD entail because I've lived here all my life and have frequented downtown regularly. I've seen how much progress has been made in just the last 10 years or so. What still seems to be lacking is a larger corporate presence and a taller skyline. Yes, whether you like it or not, large corporations and tall skylines help give a city prestige, and they imply success. You seem to be against these things, so I guess that says a lot about you.

Originally Posted by nala1908

What we need is mixed use building and communities. No matter the size. Of course building upwards is always better. But we can't skip the steps in between.

Your vision of 5 or 10 story buildings is fine, but that would be more suited for the outer fringes of downtown. Highrise buildings are zoned for the main downtown core & along north Central Avenue, and it has been that way for as long as I can remember. A few midrises mixed in would be OK as well ... however, this anti corporate, anti skyscraper NIMBY mentality that you and a few others have needs to cease! Phoenix is never going to be recognized as a world class city like we should be as long as this kind of small town attitude prevails.

[AZ_Rookie]

^^^

"prestige" and "imply"... Just sounds like fluff - no real value to that.

[nala1908]

Originally Posted by AZ_Rookie

^^^

"prestige" and "imply"... Just sounds like fluff - no real value to that.

Yeah they are all words with no meaning. Valley native has obviously never been to a real dense city. LA is small scale compared to NYC or Chicago.

[Champ le monstre du lac]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

I know what a true downtown SHOULD entail because I've lived here all my life and have frequented downtown regularly. I've seen how much progress has been made in just the last 10 years or so. What still seems to be lacking is a larger corporate presence and a taller skyline. Yes, whether you like it or not, large corporations and tall skylines help give a city prestige, and they imply success. You seem to be against these things, so I guess that says a lot about you.



Your vision of 5 or 10 story buildings is fine, but that would be more suited for the outer fringes of downtown. Highrise buildings are zoned for the main downtown core & along north Central Avenue, and it has been that way for as long as I can remember. A few midrises mixed in would be OK as well ... however, this anti corporate, anti skyscraper NIMBY mentality that you and a few others have needs to cease! Phoenix is never going to be recognized as a world class city like we should be as long as this kind of small town attitude prevails.

I think you can have both highrise and midrise in Phoenix. Maybe a tall signature tower somewhere around Central and McDowell and a few more 40-50 story towers in midtown, whilst building more 5-10 story infil midrises between 7th and 7th, kid of like the buildings going up on E Roosevelt. I think what some may be trying say is they don't want a boring downtown like Houston or Dallas where they have some very handsome and good looking tall buildings but no life down on the street level. There are lots of North American downtowns that feel like vertical office parks and they're pretty dull.