Artists and astute planning turned a blank slate of empty blocks into a boomtown When Quinn Whissen, who grew up in Phoenix, thinks about her experiences with the city?s downtown as a child, one thing she recalls is leaving. While the Sun Belt city has been booming for decades, its downtown has, for much of that time, been known as a bland collection of office buildings and stadiums, ringed by vacant lots leftover from a failed ?70s urban renewal scheme. It was a place to escape as soon as possible; the city even devised the Sunburst Traffic plan to facilitate a quick way home for suburbanites attending shows and events downtown.
?I think Jane Jacobs would think it was a shitshow,? says Whissen, discussing the traditional layout of downtown Phoenix, beyond a core of office buildings and commercial activity. ?There were literal craters of vacant land downtown, and acres and acres of torn-down buildings. It was a struggle.? When Whissen returned to Phoenix in 2011, after working in Los Angeles, she noticed things had changed. A lot. In a conservative state known for hyper-charged suburban sprawl?during the late 20th century, developers were converting empty land at the rate of an acre an hour?Whissen found dense urban development finally taking root. Light rail stops criss-crossed downtown, energetic bars and restaurants drew people onto the sidewalks, an arts district was thriving, and downtown campuses brought students to an area dominated by office workers and gove...