Comments on: Musings on my CenPhoCamp presentation

By: Light Rail Dine Around coming July 29 | Matthew Petro

Light Rail Dine Around coming July 29 | Matthew Petro — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 16:41:58 +0000

[...] a session at CenPhoCamp entitled From Suburban to Returning Customers (view the video and read followup thoughts here). A couple of the themes which emerged [...]

By: Matthew Petro, From Suburban to Returning Customers | CenPhoCamp

Matthew Petro, From Suburban to Returning Customers | CenPhoCamp — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:39:25 +0000

[...] Disclaimer: CenPhoCamp is not affiliated with Cronkite School or Arizona State University. We are grateful to have the use of their world-class facilities for our event.Nice work by Matthew Petro. [...]

By: Matthew Petro

Matthew Petro — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:51:27 +0000

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.

By: Matthew Petro

Matthew Petro — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:51:27 +0000

By: RJ_Price

RJ_Price — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:05:04 +0000

Great observations, Matthew. If you're interested in writing a guest blog entry on downtownphoenix.com please email me at rjprice@downtownphx.org

By: Derek Neighbors

Derek Neighbors — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:03:18 +0000

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* outdated opinions – many suburbanites have opinions of downtown which are based in the downtown of the 70’s and 80’s, when it really was deserted after dark.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