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May 23, 2011

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The future of Phoenix is the story of "The Brave Cowboy" by Ed Abbey and maybe phxsunfun is destined to be the last cowboy. The others are dead, have left or are leaving town, leaving the remains to be picked over by the ravaging vultures of theocratic and apocalyptic philosophy. If only the rapture would occur now, earth would be a really great planet.

Can melting reactor cores be cooled with sand? How many tons of water could be pulled from the aquifer? How quickly? Where would the radioactive waste water spill? Were these questions asked in Seventies?

Where would Tokyo be today if prevailing winds had brought radioactive particles instead of carrying them out to sea?

Meanwhile, 45 miles upwind of downtown Phoenix ...

While 45 miles downwind we distract ourselves with light rail?

'Can't happen here' keeps happening elsewhere.

Rate,
I've had numerous discussions with residents about the nuclear plant being built in the absolute worst possible location considering the prevailing winds.

100% of the time the response has been, "really, which way do the prevailing winds blow?"

How could a person not know that?

I guess the good news is that if the population has it's collective head buried in the sand, only their butts will get radiation burns. Right?

On the 100th anniversary of this state, I imagine the pioneers of long ago would be amazed at the dumb creatures who call this place home.

The five C's:

1. Call centers
2. Cars
3. Concrete
4. Crazies
5. Californicators

It's funny how time sculpts our perceptions. From my view I see thousands of new neighbors in downtown and Central Phoenix, many recent college grads, whom did not live anywhere near Arizona 1, 2, or 3 years ago. I see buildings with little office space remaining in downtown because of recent moves, expansions, etc and this during one of the state's and city's worst economic downturns. I see a bio-med/science campus constantly under construction: http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2011/05/17/20110517phoenix-ua-downtown-cancer-center-arizona.html

A light rail system (though small for the size of the metro region's sprawling footprint) constantly outpacing ridership growth of "transit friendly" cities like Portland and Seattle. I do think however, that the Centennial Plans are rather ridiculous especially since green, leafy trees have been taken out of the plan because the feds wouldn't fund their planting (big, leafy shade trees don’t fit in with the state's historic character I'm told). I'm not so disappointed with the kid's penny drive as it tends to get the young thinking in terms of civic responsibility (I did similar things in the communities I was raised in during my pre-teen days) and in the future may highlight to these children their parent’s lack of community engagement. Until all Arizonans aside from the LDS Mesans and white-right Sun Citians start voting, those that see Arizona's problems and are working to solve them will have to forge on behind the scenes.

You see and hear change coming in Arizona; from the transplanted suburbanite's children to younger Hispanics: You see it in the younger people's culture; dad might be wearing a Cub's, Twin's, Buck's or Brewer's jersey and cap but the kid's are sporting Upton, Roberts, Drew (Diamondbacks), and Nash jerseys. This positive change over recent years may seem insignificant after the decades of decline in Central Phoenix, but it will mean an enormous demographic and political change (more progressive) for our future.

Jon, who would you dedicate a historic bronze sculpture to in Phoenix? Duppa? Hunt? Geronimo? Roosevelt? I'm thinking all of the above...

As for the state's 100th birthday, it is very telling which people are most interested in this celebration through funding for the Centennial; it will all be funded by the City of Phoenix and the Fed's. I'm thinking Gordon, in his last year as mayor, should pull a Pearce and try to enact a city tax on the entire state in order to reclaim some of these funds.

Tonight I dined outside at my favorite neighborhood restaurant, overlooking the fountain and the lake. Folks were walking the green park (thanks to effluent) with their dogs . . enjoying a balmy night where the air is almost skin temperature. This is the Arizona I love and I choose to savor it while it lasts. Life is precious, so why not enjoy each day we're given?

pSf, given Arizona's complicated history we need an entire Monument Avenue. To those you listed, I'd add Cesar Chavez, Mark Wilmer, Ernest McFarland, Carl Hayden, etc. To the deported Bisbee miners, the Chinese who built the railroad. The African-Americans who were killed in the WWII riot. The dam builders. And in walkable public spaces.

morecleanair, were we still on Holly Street and the night not too hot, we would no doubt be having cocktails on the wide porch of our 1914 bungalow, with friends walking by to join in, or taking LRT down to Portlands for drinks, where, again, we would see friends. Every day is a gift. Alas, my profession involves dealing with the difficult but necessary task of assessing public policy, the state of the state, holding the powerful accountable, and other such duties.

Statue List:

An Indian warrior on horseback
A miner
A railroader
A rancher
A farmer

and finally, an open spot for a future statue of Sarah Palin of Scottsdale, AZ.

Navajo Code Talkers
Raul Castro
And let's skip Sarah Palin; if the rumors are true it is my hope she will follow Bristol's example and exit Arizona after she discovers her base is in Mesa and Sun City (less glamorous).

"I guess the good news is that if the population has it's collective head buried in the sand, only their butts will get radiation burns. Right?" - azrebel

An image of just this idea . . .

http://ratecrimes.blogspot.com/2009/10/pirg-version.html

"it will mean an enormous demographic and political change (more progressive) for our future." - phxSUNSfan

Seems to me to be a high-fidelity echo of words spoken decades ago (and by some who write here in this forum).

The rhetorician Harold Ford Jr. just stated that Tim Pawlenty is "ar-tic-a-lit".

Gawd. Why am I near a TV?!

The Arizona Museum of Carbon dioxide and Carcinogens from the Combustion of Coal for air-Conditioning.

http://ratecrimes.blogspot.com/2009/06/coal-fired-air-conditioning.html

Geronimo and Ed Abbey get my vote. Raul Castro and Janet Napolitano? No way! They were just as huge an embarrassment to Arizona as Jane Hull and Fife Symington. I hate to be the old pessimist here but there are tons of empty commercial buildings in Phoenix and the residential housing market just keeps collapsing in on itself just like the ground in Queen Creek and Rainbow Valley (think Palo Verde Nuclear plant) due to that big sucking sound of ground water. Downtown for every new food joint or “art house” that opens one goes under. Phoenix will never have the walk score of Austin or Seattle. It will continue to die after 5 PM and be dead on weekends. Want to see a crowd? Go to a restaurant near Sun City. A crowd of Soylent Green folks that is.

Jon: I remember the two letters in Viewpoints. Maybe you'll re-run them here sometime?

It's PEOPLE! :)

Phoenix, in certain neighborhoods, already has the walk score of Seattle and Austin; those cities are not Manhattan. If I want a crowd, I usually hit up a place along the light rail or in downtown, plenty crowded (sometimes one even has to wait ;-) ).

Unfortunately that Viewpoints piece is only available in the paid Republic archives.

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/azcentral/results.html?st=advanced&QryTxt=\%22Jon+Talton\%22+AND+\%22Dear+Gary\%22&type=current&sortby=RELEVANCE&datetype=0&frommonth=01&fromday=01&fromyear=1999&tomonth=05&today=24&toyear=2011&By=&Title=

I have a walkscore of 75! Plus, I have a view.

www.walkscore.com

The WalkScore whitepaper says nothing about seasons, weather, or climate being incorporated in the algorithm. If such factors were included, Phoenix would certainly lose a few points relative to Seattle. Include the scent of trees and fresh water, and Seattle goes off the charts!

Rate Crimes, hard to disagree in terms of the population at large. However, I didn't much like walking around the Sound region 11 months out of the year dripping wet in 53° weather.

I don't mind 90's and low 100's, this is Phoenix after all and if you move here and do not like the heat...WTF?! Plus, you can still smell the orange blossoms in downtown and Central Phoenix hoods in the spring. The smell of desert rains, to me, are not over rated especially in the summer and those trees around light rail stops that give off a minty smell, what are those?

Again with the WalkScore. Are you getting back at me because of my Sarah Palin statue?

I'm going to be made into Nacho and guacamole flavored soylent green crackers. Sold exclusively at AJ's fine food stores.

Begs the question, why isn't the "state" planting some citrus trees along "Centennial Way" and around the Capitol? They are, after-all, one of the 5 C's.

Citrus "used to be" one of the five C's.

Some of the saddest moments of my AZ life were when I had to witness the destruction of all the citrus groves in the west valley and parts of the east valley.

Hundreds if not thousands of acres would be allowed to dry up and die, then bulldozers would tear them down in big piles to be hauled off.

Then, PRESTO, red tile roofs.

I guess we need to add a statue of a bulldozer to our monument row.

P.S. Good stuff you've shared with us today Rate, thanks.

"However, I didn't much like walking around the Sound region 11 months out of the year dripping wet in 53° weather." - phxSUNSfan

I spent nearly two decades in AZ. When I left for Seattle, perhaps I was ready for a cool-down. I spent most of my time dancing in the rain. I discovered that biking or walking was rarely an issue in Seattle - even for a recent transplant from the desert - if I had the right gear.

I do miss the rare desert rains and the Sonoran desert: coyote mysterious, and shadowy silver under a full moon. However, I climbed Camelback hacking through the brown cloud for the last time a few years back.

Now, I'm on the East Coast watching the sun rise over the Atlantic every morning, while I yearn for the Northwest and wild blackberries on a long summer day.

Happy to oblige, azreb.

Art should accurately reflect the deepest values of a culture. Here is the collection of statues for a public space in Arizona:

- An I-10 road rager firing a Glock from the lowered window of a dented Dodge Dart.

- A 4th of July / Cinco de Mayo celebrant with a bottle of booze spilling in the off-hand while firing a semi-auto 9-mil into the air; with a matching statue of a 9-year-old child being struck by the falling bullet.

- A well-dressed man at a political rally with a polished, boutique assault rifle slung over his shoulder.

- A teenager in military surplus garb (except for a pair of battered Nikes) firing a shotgun at a shattered saguaro cactus.

- An ensemble ‘drive-by’ of a half-dozen cars in a roundabout, all firing inwards.

- Obese tourists in T-shirts and flip-flops sipping Big Gulps while watching a reenactment of the ‘gunfight’ at Tombstone’s O.K. Corral

- A young child finding his father's gun under the bed.

- A gang loading a plain, covered truck with weapons from one side while weary illegal immigrants exit from the other.

- A worn, weeping, unshorn man in a bathrobe sitting at a table, gazing at a pile of bills and an empty wallet, while he fumbles with a revolver.

- A turbaned asian man falling to the ground from gunfire.

- A fully-armed Jared Lee Loughner, grinning insanely.

- Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone entwined in full, sweaty, steroid embrace while each holds his weapon.

It would take a truly heroic artist to create this ensemble.

Careful now, all those "statues" could apply to any U.S. metro if the right author describes the context; Columbine, Detroit's 8 miles, L.A.'s Harbor or Hollywood freeways, I think the governor's mansion in Cali can take care of the roid Arny statue, Seattle's suicide rate (though the light rail is the choice of weapon these days)...

The National Association of County & City Health Officials looked at suicide rates per 100,000. No.1 Las Vegas; No 2 Colorado Springs; No. 3 Tucson. Go figure. Seattle has also had three homicides so far this year. Just trying to keep pSf's blood pumping here...

It's an ensemble; and as such, suited to no other place.

I don't get it, Colorado Springs was selected as the No. 1 Best Big City in "Best Places to Live" by Money magazine in 2006. Was Money Mag just trying to help?

Lost Vegas, I get. Are we sure that Tuscon isn't just Phoenicians making a day trip for a permanent vacation?

Jon, it's all those illegals ;-)!

Phoenix's crime and murder rates have been dropping dramatically in the last half decade. Phoenix used to have murder rates over 10/100,000 even spiking over 15/100,000 a few times. Recently those rates have been dropping and flirting with 6-7/100,000. If I'm not mistaken, Seattle's murder rate has been pretty steady year after year from 3-6/100,000.

Here is some interesting info: Chances of becoming a victim of a crime in Phoenix is slightly lower than Seattle: 1 in 140 for Phoenix, 1 in 147 for Seattle.

http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/az/phoenix/crime/

http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/wa/seattle/crime/

have that backwards, your chances of becoming a victim in Phoenix is slightly higher than in Seattle; interesting given the mighty whitey aspect of Seattle's population.

I am in downtown Phoenix on a regular basis and I have yet to see a "crowd."
I used to see more people cruising Central and hanging out at Bob's Big Boy at Central and Thomas in the 50's and 60's than I do now at any place in downtown. Hell there was a huge crowd at John Maddens, Chuys, in Van Horn a couple of Friday's ago. Some really good fights and more beautiful brown skinned chicatas than hombres. There were a few good looking jotos tambien. Phoenix used to be a nice town.
Cal and Spot from somewhere in the Big Bend looking for Marfa.

There are always crowds at St. Francis, Hula's, Arrogant Butcher (basically CityScape), Sam's Cafe has been picking up steam, FEZ, Switch, I like the unique bars in Evans-Churchill as there is always an eclectic crowd in places like the Lost Leaf.

Generally no one is "cruising" to these places; we normally walk. Although, us jotos have to drive to our traditional spots outside of places like Amsterdam.

Seattle is the whitest major American city. But because it is the center of the metro area, with the stores, bars, etc., it draws a more diverse crowd from the 'burbs. Then there's Pierce County with Joint Base Lewis-McChord (the old Fort Lewis and McChord AFB), with all the pathologies that go with military towns (of which pSf could tell stories, no doubt. I drank with the officers in Lawton, San Diego and Oceanside...)

Ah yes; I've been involved in a few fights and usually they were with the token redneck in my unit. For the most part I had great friends and quiet support while serving. But there was always that homophobe, usually with a Southern drawl, that would start shit. I wasn't open about my sexuality of course, but after a few years it became pretty obvious. There is only so many drunk women a man can turn down at bars before questions arise. Then there was the predictable disappearing act that shortly followed the arrival of a certain male comrade(s). I actually helped break up more fights than being directly involved with fortunately.

After 16 years in coastal Aberdeen, near Grayland, I'm finally dried out. It only took 26 years of living in Cali and Arizona to do that.

Seattle is my favorite place to visit because of downtown and the many people I'm connected with there. However I always enjoy landing in PHX where the weather is better and a short 15 mins drive home from the airport. SeaTac was always a 1.5 hour drive from Cobain's & my hometown.

"cruising" Another one of those words that can aptly describe multiple situations. It's a great word even when your still in first gear and about to let off on the accelerator so the glass packs can roar or when U want to do a few passes on the circuit at the 307 club

"When I went to school in Olympia, and everyone one's the same." Where is Courtney Love now?

I was just old enough to realize why she was so angry. But really, what girl wouldn't be with that hair; she needed gay friends...

Kurt was from Aberdeen???

Billionaires gather in Arizona to talk about giving away their money:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/billionaires-gather-in-arizona-to-talk-about-giving-away-their-money/article2013886/

Wish they'd use AZ as a turnaround test case.

I tried to post this yesterday, but it explains perfectly what the kookocracy has given us in the last 20 years.

From AzCentral, "Bottom line, 'you're a state that makes no effort,' says David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center, in New Jersey, and co-author of a recent national study on general school funding. 'Arizona fails on almost every measure of fairness or equity or access we've got in our report. Your level of funding is low; you ranked 46th in adjusted spending in 2008, and you've probably gone down since.

" 'And you provide very little, almost no increase in funding' to districts with the most concentrated student need, he said. This would be equally true for both school facilities and general spending, he said.

"Matthew Ladner, a senior fellow at the Goldwater Institute, disagrees with ranking Arizona against other states. Instead, he says, ask this question: 'How much do Arizona schools spend today compared to the past?'

"In 1970, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, Arizona spent $3,832 per student, adjusted for inflation and including federal funds; in 2008, it spent $7,835.

But 'it's a totally different world' now, says Jennifer Cohen, an education analyst at the New America Foundation, a public-policy think tank in Washington, D.C. Unlike 40 years ago, by law, schools now must provide special education, access for students with disabilities and classes for those learning English. They must offer statewide assessment tests and meet statewide standards.

" 'The demographics have changed dramatically, and a lot of that funding increase
is tied to the changes in demographics,' Cohen says.

"A better measure is how much a state spends on education as a percentage of people's personal income, says Bruce Baker, a Rutgers professor and Sciarra's co-author. On that scale, in 1977, at about 8.3 percent, Arizona ranked in the top third; by 2008, as other states spent more and Arizona's spending fell to
6.3 percent, it dropped into the bottom 10.

"That spending decline 'isn't due to budget constraints,' Baker says. 'It's consistent over 30 years,' whether economic times were good or bad.

"Arizona's notion of paying for school facilities out of general funds rather than local property taxes was meant to make the system fairer. But relying on annual appropriations makes it easy for lawmakers with other priorities to shift
funds elsewhere."

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2011/05/23/20110523arizona-schools-funding-debated.html

Jon it should read:

Billionaires gather in AZ to throw a smoke bomb before any attempts to tax them.

I notice Saint Warren Buffett of Omaha was there...
The good billionaire...
That is until you read this:

http://blogs.forbes.com/greatspeculations/2011/05/18/its-getting-harder-to-defend-goldman-sachs/

As for AZ's centennial, you snap-shot the essence of teabagger barbarism with this:

"Without federal water projects, there would be no 200 Tea Party members to turn out supporting their odious politicians..."

That captures their social ingratitude and rubs it against their brazen ignorance in one fell javelin throw. Nice stick. Love it when you draw teabagger blood...

Kurt was from Aberdeen of all places.

Hard to believe. I never saw him in HS. I knew Novoselic... Cobain's Dad drove log truck for my grandfather.

Hell, I thought every HS had 3-4 decent bands back then. So when Teen Spirit went huge no one was more surprised than I was.

I left Seattle for Cali just as Seattle got cool. I didn't see how Microsoft would get bigger than it was in 1986 and how it would transform the sleepy, rural Eastside. Certainly didn't see how the Seattle sound would take off either and produce the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam and STP.

What HS did you attend?

East Phoenix HS:

Churned out a remarkable number of scientists, but also an academy award winning soundman (Hamilton Sterling for "Master & Commander"), the top living jazz drummer in the world (Louis Nash according to Drum (?) magazine) and also a remarkable number of professional musical talent (either as teachers, amateurs, and pros). Billy Clone and the Same (then the Jetsons and all the other iterations that followed) have strong links to EHS.

LeftCoastDood, I went to Olympia H.S. or Oly as everyone in Thurston County called it.

I nearly ended up in Bremerton and I somewhat wanted to go to Stadium H.S., the school looked damn cool. I really wanted to attend Seattle Prep but my parents refused to let me drive that far daily...

Should add that East HS was a racially integrated school (demographics mirrored national stats), that was probably targeted for closing for that very reason, as were other similar schools around the country. Academically and basketball-wise, no other Phx Union HS District school compared.

Some more development news for the Phoenix Bio-med Campus:

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2011/05/25/boyer-co-to-build-50m-lab-on.html

Boyer-Utah
follow the $$

It appears that I forgot to include yet another symbol of Arizona culture in our collection of statues:

A jack-booted SWAT team of a dozen crashing down a door and pumping a couple dozen rounds into the homeowner.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/05/27/arizona.marine.death/

The very modest adornments we sometimes give pubic infrastructure are not without their own peril. The notorious pots on the Squaw Peak Freeway became an excuse to rage against the power that would think such things either necessary or desirable. But, for the most part, power reflects the ultra-utilitarian values of the citizenry. It's why the Black Canyon Freeway was such a horrifying undertaking in the '50s. A state that measures the public good in the money it doesn't spend on decent buildings, monuments, public squares and art is broadcasting a fundamental devaluation from its deepest core. It's why post-war school construction emphasized barracks-style rows of buildings with connecting causeways. We won World War II against sclerotic empires with beautiful things. We won, they lost, end of story.

Arizona's triumph against the old and fussy meant that we wouldn't care for even the preservation of beloved buildings. Downtown Phoenix had three remarkable public buildings done in the typical Romanesque style of the early 20th century (Water Users Building, Federal Building, YMCA). There were few if any tears shed when they were torn down (my father being the instrument of that). When the Fox Theatre was torn down in 1975 for a city bus depot, no one cared. The Fleming Building, a granite hulk, was lost several years earlier. Phoenix was new, clean, bold, and fun.

We care in this blog because we get that Phoenix is not going to win any competitions with other cities by building more sterile plazas ala Cityscape. The deficit of beauty in Phoenix will not be assuaged with cheers and boosterism. We will, instead, continue to attract fussbudget cynics who want everything done as cheaply as possible. And when the newcomers occasionally stray from the utilitarian script, we'll remind them that money doesn't grow on trees.

Arizona's woeful state capital buildings are now a permanent reminder that Arizona is not cherished, loved, or protected. The old buildings, often modest and homely, told us something different: there is no reason to live here if you don't love this place. You love a place in its particulars and cheapening those particulars will eventually devour your very reasons for living here. Without love, there is no reason.

I spent the last four days in San Diego and wandered around on bicycle to neighborhoods I've never seen before. South Park, in particular, was a revelation. Of course, San Diego was a substantial city before World War II when Phoenix was small and poor. But the lessons are eternal. You can't fake value with cheap stucco, inadequate landscaping, or strictly utilitarian architecture. San Diego's advantages are legendary but their greatest asset is a built environment that puts ours to shame.

Scottsdale is a mess in many ways, incoherent and scattershot, but it does exude value. It means people are better rooted than they are in places like Gilbert or Mesa. And it means they're less neurotic because they don't have to negotiate away the fact that beauty is a primary human requirement.

The sadness of Phoenix is our obvious lack of love for this place. We have faked it with decorative lampposts and park benches. We have prioritized "saving" water over beautiful street trees. And we self-congratulate over what would be a scandal in a better city: the cheapness of our cost of living.

Decades of boosterism and cheerleading can no longer disguise the sordid reality of this tragedy. I wish it were possible to find the good in this bad bargain but the truth is that there isn't any.

Here's my vote for a statue: Evan Mecham's toupee on Russell Pearce's head behind the Yuma Territorial Prison's bars.

phxSuns...It was my turn to be team captain Sr. year against your old HS. Much bigger Oly shelled us 33-6 in our CCC built, Depression era barn, Stewart Field. Ugly.

My cousin goes to Stadium and loves it after transferring from Bellermine. Probably the nicest older school in WA.

Anyway, Go Suns.

soleri said,

"Decades of boosterism and cheerleading can no longer disguise the sordid reality of this tragedy."

Well done, soleri. Yet, one must admit that it was momentarily cheering when a few sensitive citizens raised their voices against those comic freeway adornments.

Also, the values exuded in our robotically incestuous / incestuously robotic North Stepford Peyton Place (aka Scottsdale) are a thin veil over shallowness.

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