Light Rail Urban Renewal?

Light Rail Construction Area, Spectrum Mall


It’s been a perfectly dreadful week, today was the first time I’ve been out of the house in a week – apart from two trips to the doctor’s office.

As I mentioned earlier, I woke up Sunday with Conjunctivitis (or “Pink” eye, although mine was fiery red) and by Monday was could barely keep it open. Despite being put on ophthalmological antibiotics Monday, it had spread to both eyes by Tuesday night and by Thursday morning had become a very painful sinus infection complete with high fever. So, it was back to the doctor for more general antibiotics and the wost of the fever broke Friday afternoon.

Today, although I still feel awful, I thought, “I could go for some fish & chips.” Which is, I suppose a good sign that my appetite is slowly returning.

On our way back from the chippy, we stopped at Costco to pick up some supplies and I finally have all the missing pieces as to what’s happening up at Rectum… er… Spectrum Mall.

In the meantime, it also gave me the opportunity to play around with Skitch, a new beta program for the Mac. Skitch is on an invitation-based beta program right now, and I have a couple if anyone is interested.

Skitch is one of those programs that, on the surface, doesn’t really float my boat – it’s basically a screen capture, photo annotation, web posting application. Of course, it’s fully integrated with your iPhoto library and tied to your iSight. It also has hooks to work with myskitch.com, flickr, .mac, FTP and SFTP sites (and others).

Nonetheless, it seems very good at what it does and it makes it very easy to illustrate something visually and share it. It’s absolutely painless to snap, annotate, resize and share via web, IM, e-mail.

For part of my evaluation of Skitch, I decided to mock up what’s happening at the mall.

For those not immediately impacted by it (like I have been, everyday for the last year or two) Phoenix is constructing a long-overdue mass transit system based on light rail. While the system under construction is probably woefully inadequate, I try to be a bit forgiving. Phoenix is not an optimally laid-out city for a rail network. With an urban area (including the surrounding cities that are really part of Phoenix, but would scream and stamp their little feet if you tell them that.) I estimate at least 500 square miles of city, and no clearly defined center of commerce, it’s hard to imagine anything other than a massive gridwork of trains accomplishing the task of reducing auto traffic.

Nonethess, I’ve ridden the buses in the areas that are being replaced by the rail and they are the ones I’ve noticed the heaviest use of. I’m sure the planners have all the statistics of all the bus routes and took that into account.

As it happens, I live near the north-western terminus of the initial rail system and am right in the heart of the construction, which continues until December 2008.

The rail comes no closer than one mile to my house and 2.5 miles from my office, which, when it is 114º makes it less than optimal for my commute, but I’m more interested in the growth anticipated around the route. While my area is not depressed, it isn’t new and all the interesting businesses and restaurants tend to concentrate of the outskirts of the metropolis.

There’s certainly lots of expensive condominium construction happening all along the route. I’m in hopes that the businesses will follow for these people who obviously have too much disposable income.

Spectrum Mall, one of, if not the oldest remaining mail in Phoenix could hardly be called “upscale” but, as it happens to be at the terminal station, has been seeing a lot of investment and new construction. They’ve been tearing it down and rebuilding parts of it for a long time, but the names of the new businesses have not been well-publicized. Today I finally filled in all the pieces and have used Skitch to annotate this (months old) satellite image.

JC Penney (a store I never shop at) abandoned this mall first 10 or more years ago and their old location was torn down to make room for the Costco that went in. Montgomery Ward went completely out of business and the store remained empty for years. Walmart built into the east side and then, in a move that surprised me, it was expanded into what was once the largest WalMart Supercentre on earth. Both those events were several years ago and the mall was nearly dead when they moved in. They did not revitalize it all and the rest of the mall (especially the parts not directly in a line between Costco and WalMart) became an empty wasteland.

Once the light rail got going, someone obviously decided that this was viable commercial property and started tearing the dead areas down and rebuilding them again.

In a bit of irony, JC Penny is the first to move back in, with a new location at the front of the mall which opens August 3. The Harkins theatre which has been there for as long as I’ve been in Phoenix (25 years) sat immediately in front of the rail station was torn down, but a newer, bigger one, which just opened this weekend was constructed on the backside.

Meanwhile something large and unnamed has been under construction on the west side of the mall. Today I learned it is some form of Target Supercentre. Are they insane? How can they support two virtually identical stores in one mall? WalMart is so well established in that area, I find it hard to believe Target can thrive.

I just hope the whole thing drives some good restaurants into that area. There isn’t even a food court left in the mall as it was demolished for the new theatres. Right now all there is a KFC and Taco Bell on the perimeter. Yuck.

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8 thoughts on “Light Rail Urban Renewal?”

  1. An interesting and thoughtful post. A few reactions:

    — A network of rail lines covering the whole metro area would be nice, but that concept has proven politically infeasible. A proposal to build an entire Valley-wide rail system at once was the Valtrans initiative in 1989. It was very ambitious with a price tag of $8.5 billion dollars, and the voters rejected it by a decisive margin. With that defeat, as well as the defeats of smaller rai proposals during the ’90s, the City had no choice but to ask voters to begin with a starter line and build from there.

    — Even though Phoenix is beginning with just a single starter line, it’s a much longer line than in many other cities that have just opened light rail lines. The new light rail line in Houston is only 7.5 miles long. The Hiawatha line in Minneapolis is 12 miles long. Phoenix beats most other cities with a 20-mile starter line.

    — Planning is already underway to extend the starter line in both directions, making it eventually over 25 miles in length. Additional lines are also planned.

    — I agree that it’s nice to see Christown / Spectrum coming back to life, but I’m disappointed that the current mall owners seem to have so little vision as it relates to transit-oriented development. The Super Target under construction is being constructed in classic suburban style — set back from the street with a huge surface parking lot in front of it. It would be far better to build a more urban store right up against the street with a parking garage adjacent to it. The parking garage could be dual purpose, serving both Target shoppers and park-and-ride commuters.

    — I agree that the array of restaurants in the Christown / Spectrum area is disappointing. I’m currently blogging interesting restaurants along the light rail line, and I’m having real trouble finding anything blog-worthy near the 19th Ave. / Montebello Station

  2. An interesting and thoughtful post. A few reactions:

    — A network of rail lines covering the whole metro area would be nice, but that concept has proven politically infeasible. A proposal to build an entire Valley-wide rail system at once was the Valtrans initiative in 1989. It was very ambitious with a price tag of $8.5 billion dollars, and the voters rejected it by a decisive margin. With that defeat, as well as the defeats of smaller rai proposals during the ’90s, the City had no choice but to ask voters to begin with a starter line and build from there.

    — Even though Phoenix is beginning with just a single starter line, it’s a much longer line than in many other cities that have just opened light rail lines. The new light rail line in Houston is only 7.5 miles long. The Hiawatha line in Minneapolis is 12 miles long. Phoenix beats most other cities with a 20-mile starter line.

    — Planning is already underway to extend the starter line in both directions, making it eventually over 25 miles in length. Additional lines are also planned.

    — I agree that it’s nice to see Christown / Spectrum coming back to life, but I’m disappointed that the current mall owners seem to have so little vision as it relates to transit-oriented development. The Super Target under construction is being constructed in classic suburban style — set back from the street with a huge surface parking lot in front of it. It would be far better to build a more urban store right up against the street with a parking garage adjacent to it. The parking garage could be dual purpose, serving both Target shoppers and park-and-ride commuters.

    — I agree that the array of restaurants in the Christown / Spectrum area is disappointing. I’m currently blogging interesting restaurants along the light rail line, and I’m having real trouble finding anything blog-worthy near the 19th Ave. / Montebello Station

  3. Thanks for commenting… in case anyone missed it, Silverbear’s blog PHX Rail Food is at http://phxrailfood.blogspot.com.

    I must admit, I’m absolutely mystified at the direction the construction has taken at Christown. (I’ll never get used to calling it Spectrum Mall.) Harkins has lost the perfect spot for a theatre. Not only was it visible directly from 19th Ave (a major street) it was perfectly positioned by the future light rail station. Yet they’ve moved to the backside (That’s putting it nicely) of the mall, facing 15th Ave, a minor street at best, and they’re completely invisible from Bethany Home because they’re behind the WalMart. What kind of business decision was that? Sure, the theatre needed updating, but they’ve moved right into the spot that couldn’t even keep the old $1 cinema open.

    I can’t really see Costco benefitting much from the Light Rail. People are hardly likely to buy their bulk groceries or 52″ plasma TVs and hauling them home on the rail.

    But that applies quite a bit to WalMart and Target also. A significant portion of their sales space is given to Department store-style shopping.

    In a way I can understand Target’s choice of being put back like a suburban location, they don’t want to live and die entirely by the light rail, but if that isn’t the attractor, what on Earth would draw them into that location? There’s stiff competition from WalMart and there’s already another Target at 7th/Camelback (also on the light rail route) What’s that, about 2 miles away? Are they closing that location?

    I assumed (probably in unfounded optimism) that the space in front of the new Target, immediately along 19th Ave where the old theatre was was going to be built up with a “front line” of smaller shops or restaurants and that’s why the old theatre had to be demolished. Surely that’s not just for parking?

    I completely agree that a comprehensive rail system is politically impossible, but from the staggering cost and from the very vocal and misleading opposition. I still hear people on the street spout complete BS that was spread around by light rail’s opponents.

    Do people never bother to check their facts before forming opinions on important policy decisions? What am I saying? Of course not. It’s easier just to believe what sounds good to you and reaffirms their own baseless opinions.

    (The least I can do is provide a link to Valley Metro’s Light Rail Page to help try to dispel some of the nonsense.

    I find I’m both grumpier and more cynical when I’m under the weather.

  4. Thanks for commenting… in case anyone missed it, Silverbear’s blog PHX Rail Food is at http://phxrailfood.blogspot.com.

    I must admit, I’m absolutely mystified at the direction the construction has taken at Christown. (I’ll never get used to calling it Spectrum Mall.) Harkins has lost the perfect spot for a theatre. Not only was it visible directly from 19th Ave (a major street) it was perfectly positioned by the future light rail station. Yet they’ve moved to the backside (That’s putting it nicely) of the mall, facing 15th Ave, a minor street at best, and they’re completely invisible from Bethany Home because they’re behind the WalMart. What kind of business decision was that? Sure, the theatre needed updating, but they’ve moved right into the spot that couldn’t even keep the old $1 cinema open.

    I can’t really see Costco benefitting much from the Light Rail. People are hardly likely to buy their bulk groceries or 52″ plasma TVs and hauling them home on the rail.

    But that applies quite a bit to WalMart and Target also. A significant portion of their sales space is given to Department store-style shopping.

    In a way I can understand Target’s choice of being put back like a suburban location, they don’t want to live and die entirely by the light rail, but if that isn’t the attractor, what on Earth would draw them into that location? There’s stiff competition from WalMart and there’s already another Target at 7th/Camelback (also on the light rail route) What’s that, about 2 miles away? Are they closing that location?

    I assumed (probably in unfounded optimism) that the space in front of the new Target, immediately along 19th Ave where the old theatre was was going to be built up with a “front line” of smaller shops or restaurants and that’s why the old theatre had to be demolished. Surely that’s not just for parking?

    I completely agree that a comprehensive rail system is politically impossible, but from the staggering cost and from the very vocal and misleading opposition. I still hear people on the street spout complete BS that was spread around by light rail’s opponents.

    Do people never bother to check their facts before forming opinions on important policy decisions? What am I saying? Of course not. It’s easier just to believe what sounds good to you and reaffirms their own baseless opinions.

    (The least I can do is provide a link to Valley Metro’s Light Rail Page to help try to dispel some of the nonsense.

    I find I’m both grumpier and more cynical when I’m under the weather.

  5. I’ve heard that the 7th Ave / Camelback Target will close once the new Super Target is open. That shopping center at 7th Ave and Camelback has always been particularly ugly, so I hope that there is some good, high-density transit-oriented development at that site.

  6. I’ve heard that the 7th Ave / Camelback Target will close once the new Super Target is open. That shopping center at 7th Ave and Camelback has always been particularly ugly, so I hope that there is some good, high-density transit-oriented development at that site.

  7. That would work for me.

    I’m closest to the 19th/Camelback stop (which is currently a complete wasteland), but anything along those first three stops would be a welcome addition.

    It would certainly make sense to try to renovate all around 7th/Camelback, since that’s supposed to be one end of the “Melrose on 7th” project. (I’m still somewhat in the dark about what that’s supposed to accomplish. If they’re trying to turn that into a pedestrian high street, aren’t they going to have to somehow get rid of the garages, car parts stores and landscaping businesses?)

  8. That would work for me.

    I’m closest to the 19th/Camelback stop (which is currently a complete wasteland), but anything along those first three stops would be a welcome addition.

    It would certainly make sense to try to renovate all around 7th/Camelback, since that’s supposed to be one end of the “Melrose on 7th” project. (I’m still somewhat in the dark about what that’s supposed to accomplish. If they’re trying to turn that into a pedestrian high street, aren’t they going to have to somehow get rid of the garages, car parts stores and landscaping businesses?)

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