Musings on my CenPhoCamp presentation

The discussion in my CenPhoCamp presentation was really refreshing. I’m so glad to see people really thinking about how to make downtown Phoenix better and how to get more people from the suburbs to change their opinions.

Clearly not everyone agrees on how best to do this, but there were some themes which emerged:

infill - CenPho needs to have a more cohesive feel. “Downtown needs to become a mall” was one quote which was said during the discussion (the exact wording may have been a little different). But the point was not to turn CenPho into one giant Tempe Marketplace. The point was to create the integrated experience that developers artificially create by building places like Tempe Marketplace or Westgate, but instead doing it by filling in the empty lots and allowing independent business to thrive.
outdated opinions – many suburbanites have opinions of downtown which are based in the downtown of the 70′s and 80′s, when it really was deserted after dark. All of that has changed quite a bit, but many people remain in their suburban lifestyles and haven’t had any reason to investigate what’s going on in downtown Phoenix.
events – People need a reason to come to downtown and check out what’s going on. A bigger event, such as a pub crawl or other event which featured several businesses may have a larger drawing power than individual businesses attempts to attract people.
chains – opinion was divided on this. Many people thought that bringing some chains into CenPho would make suburban dwellers more comfortable with venturing into downtown. Others thought that chains wouldn’t draw people, as chains are already plentiful much closer to suburbanites homes. Personally, I’m divided on this issue. Having chains like Best Buy or Target downtown would show that there’s a lot of people living in CenPho, as these stores certainly don’t open locations where there isn’t a critical mass of potential customers. But on the downside, chains reduce the uniqueness of downtown.

To be honest, I went into my presentation hoping that there would be so much discussion that I wouldn’t get through all 11 slides. The fact that I only got to #3 was amazing. It made me feel good about CenPho.

If you’re interested in checking out my ideas, look through the slides I had prepared for the presentation. I would like to explore them further, so I’m planning to write some blog posts which flesh out the bullet points. My disjointed notes on each slide are in there as well, so you can attempt to decipher what I meant or just wait for the blog posts.

From Suburban to Returning Customers

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View Comments to “Musings on my CenPhoCamp presentation”

Derek Neighbors 25 January 2010 at 11:03 pm #

* infill – CenPho needs to have a more cohesive feel.

The problem is there 5 downtowns within downtown. No one wants to address this. There decent restaurants/bars and a few art spots, but a downtown this does not make. No one mini downtown(neighborhood) has a reasonable mix of offerings.

* outdated opinions – many suburbanites have opinions of downtown which are based in the downtown of the 70’s and 80’s, when it really was deserted after dark.

I was there this weekend. Still pretty damn dead on a Saturday night. Go to downtown Scottsdale/Tempe and in a square 1/2 mile you have as many people out and about as nearly the same 8sq miles of Phoenix. Insulting suburbanites with dogma won't woo them.

* events – People need a reason to come to downtown and check out what’s going on.

Absolutely agree with this. First Fridays is a good example of this done well.

* chains – opinion was divided on this.

If you want PEOPLE you have to have what people want. Not everyone is 100% committed to local everything. Some people might want clothes from Macy, Gap or even Target. Shunning them, doesn't help. Chains are necessary. Imagine an Apple store for example downtown. Chains do not draw people, but they are frequented by people that live near by. The reason no chains are in downtown is there are only like 8,000 people living downtown. It's not economically viable. Why would one drive from Gilbert to Phoenix to go to the Apple store or macy's? You need diversity (of people and places) to be vibrant. Ultimately chains are necessary. When they start showing up you know CenPho is making it. Pita Jungle and Smashburger are good starts.
RJ_Price 26 January 2010 at 9:05 am #

Great observations, Matthew. If you're interested in writing a guest blog entry on downtownphoenix.com please email me at rjprice@downtownphx.org
Matthew Petro 1 February 2010 at 1:51 pm #

The chain issue is a really a chicken and egg problem. Chains would help encourage people to move into downtown, but chains won't come until there's people to support them. I'm glad to see Pita Jungle coming in and I personally would like to see a good mix of local and chains.

This situation is really where local government can help to encourage smart growth, attracting chains with zoning and incentives to bring more permanent residents to the area. Unfortunately, local government has far more experience in working with developers and letting them “solve” the problem, eg: CityScape.
Matthew Petro 1 February 2010 at 8:51 pm #

The chain issue is a really a chicken and egg problem. Chains would help encourage people to move into downtown, but chains won't come until there's people to support them. I'm glad to see Pita Jungle coming in and I personally would like to see a good mix of local and chains.

This situation is really where local government can help to encourage smart growth, attracting chains with zoning and incentives to bring more permanent residents to the area. Unfortunately, local government has far more experience in working with developers and letting them “solve” the problem, eg: CityScape.
Matthew Petro, From Suburban to Returning Customers | CenPhoCamp

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