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May 14, 2013

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Love it. Rename Hance Park? Sounds good to me if she was no help to Downtown.

A huge difference between Encanto Park and Hance Park is that Encanto has flood irrigation, a left-over from its agricultural roots. Meanwhile, the tunnel has water leaks that make Hance Park a work in progress. ADOT is holding up a certain amount of planning and development of the park by the future work on this leak.

Most of the great WPA work done for Encanto has been either tossed or relegated to "back of the house" status. Can't say if they planted new trees at Encanto after that horrible storm, but those were very old trees and it's hard to replace that. I do know they took out the bamboo that used to grow next to 15th Avenue.

Deck Park (easy to pronounce, easy to remember) feels unloved because, well, it's in Phoenix. There aren't that many people living close to it, so the homeless really stand out. If the much-touted urban renaissance in the Roosevelt neighborhood takes off, that may change. It has probably the greatest park amenity in all Phoenix: the Japanese Friendship Garden. But the dominant vibe is one of forlorn disrepair. It's too hot in the summer, trees have a tough time growing there, and the water features are disabled.

A great city park (say Bryant Park in NYC) doesn't have to be big. It does require human beings in such numbers that people watching becomes a pleasurable activity. When Deck Park was finished in 1991, downtown was struggling through an early iteration of Lollapalooza (Arizona Center, America West Arena). Deck Park was too distant to really "synergize" with them, and it quickly became an afterthought although the Burton Barr Central Library manifested a few intrepid lawn rangers when it opened in 1995.

I want to defend this awkward child as an act of improbable hope. $80 million was a lot to spend on the decking over I-10, and it's hard to imagine finding that kind of money today. The vistas from Kenilworth to the downtown high rises can be lovely. It undulates nicely instead of lying flat-faced on the ground like Steele Park. If it's more costume jewelry than a real gem, that's because midwifing a city is a lot harder than we thought it would be 30 years ago. As anemic as downtown Phoenix is, Deck Park still kindles hope that we might eventually show up someday. A few today, more tomorrow, and maybe as a real city in the coming years.

No surprise that the state most severely lacking in urban parks and park maintenance is Republican rich redneck strong Texas.

What do the Billy Bobs do with all the oil revenue?

You might be surprised to learn that they have replanted, and continue to replant, trees at Encanto Park. Just this April they replanted 18 trees. If I am not mistaken, the trees lost in the storm in 2008 (?) have been replaced and the new trees exceed the number that previously existed. Encanto Park is also getting upgraded ramadas and new tennis, volleyball, racquetball, and basketball courts. Work is expected to be completed June 2014.

I have three words. Shade, Shade, Shade. A foreign concept in the valley of the sun.

It looks like there are problems with the structure. They may not be able to plant trees.

http://downtowndevil.com/2012/12/17/37131/hance-park-redevelopment-master-plan/

Hey Jon ... enjoyed hearing you on KJZZ today. Come back down south any time. From Carol Jennings, now living in Tempe

KJZZ treats Jon with great respect. Maybe one of the TV channels will follow suit when he's in town.

U all missed out on the free food and great speech by Jon last night at Teritos formerly Urban Bean.


Parts of the deck park are on land, and can handle planting trees. The true deck part could have tree planters installed above ground, with benches around the shady tree.

The Night Detectives accessible with Kindle Fire?

The park is an oven within a bigger oven. Cement and 50's bomb shelter ambiance. It is a better match for North Scottsdale.

It's available on Kindle.

can u smell the paper and ink on a kindle?

I think "West Valley Mayors" have been reading Rogue. They wrote in a recent article in the Republic: "While we each have brands as cities within Greater Phoenix, marketing ourselves separately outside of Arizona as individual cities - or East Valley or the West Valley - is not advantageous for Arizona." Included in the story is an editor's note that reads: "Recently, East Valley Partnership decided to rebrand itself after a study found that not many people across the country could identify the East Valley - they could identify only Phoenix." I would say by extension, not many recognize "The Valley" as representative of metro Phoenix. Looks like these groups will start emphasizing "greater Phoenix". It's time to start calling the area just Phoenix...
http://www.azcentral.com/insiders/westvalleyeditorials/2013/05/17/mayors-lets-work-together-under-greater-phoenix-brand/

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