Phoenix looks to transform, modernize downtown in new development plan

PHOENIX - The City of Phoenix is working on a plan to invest and improve the area to make downtown more vibrant, walkable, and urban. 

What we know:

The vision for downtown includes new apartments, more events, more open space and more money generated from creating an entertainment district befitting the big city Phoenix has become. And there is growing pressure on the bureaucrats to get busy.

Local perspective:

At Crown Public House in downtown Phoenix, soccer fans are lured in by the sounds of the quarterfinals between Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain. When it is not soccer, it is a convention, a Suns game, or the D-backs that pack not just his bar, but the entire downtown with patrons.

"I just think that we’re so big and we have so many people here, we can do a lot more," said Jason Bell, owner of Crown Public House.

The backstory:

Downtown Phoenix has done a lot since its founding in 1871, morphing from dirt roads with horse and buggies to a glittering skyline with an electric public transit system. But starting in 2020, the city experienced explosive growth.

"We’re the fifth largest city," said Councilmember Laura Pastor, District 4. "And we have to operate as a big city and be able to draw people to us, entertain them, entertain our locals like me who come down on the light rail, eat, spend money."

Timeline:

The city is trying, but progress on its 10-year development plan is taking years to get started.

During a city council meeting, it was noted that the entertainment district item has been an item that was expected to come in March. Then there was another delay, and a high expectation for April.

Now, city staff are asking for more time, looking to get more input on their goals to create pocket parks, plazas and signature destination parks; widen the streetscape to accommodate more pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders and sidewalk experiences. They want to add more trees and taller buildings to provide shade, and then build the money makers: housing, offices, retail, hotels and entertainment venues.

"Three years ago it was on a 10-year plan," Bell said. "And the way I keep seeing and hear[ing] about it, you always hear about it, but you never really have when it is going to happen. But I’d love to see it happen sooner than later."

What's next:

Councilmember Pastor is pushing to get this plan in motion by summer.

To view the entirety of the city's implementation plan, click here.