At first glance, Phoenix is a jungle of cross streets and freeways. Here, far is near; we jet miles between stops without thinking. It's not ugly — it's amazing! Visitors view Phoenix in shock and awe. It's a wonder to behold. Unconfined by more than 515 square miles of land, Phoenix is the world's most awesome urban sprawl.
But our sprawl has attitude — Old West swagger and big-city sass.
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Like an urban theme park with sections named for shopping centers, Phoenix has "hot spots" like the Biltmore serving as gateways. Every freeway exit is a new adventure!
Like an awkward teenager, have we been hiding our best feature? Is Phoenix defined by . . . sprawl? (There, I said it.) How can we embrace that within the context of the city center?
A world-class Copper Square would be a foyer to the city, a launch pad to the many attractions. Imagine tourists flocking to the "city of a thousand cities," buzzing to and from our malls, golf courses and recreation; imagine locals enjoying the culture of a rich urban nightlife; connected by the streets where it all started.
Phoenix is America's fifth-largest city, and downtown Phoenix must show her distinction as the wellspring of this desert oasis. My hope is that we can unite behind a positive vision of Phoenix that includes a vibrant downtown. After all, we've got everything else within a 20-minute drive.
Name withheld by request
Taking a dive: You paint a gloomy portrait of our skyline fallen prey to development. As a 20-year resident of the Valley, I share your concern. But the Palmcroft Apartments are not even in Copper Square!
Furthermore, if King's Crossing bar is historic architecture, then your standards are way too low. Yes, King's does have nostalgia, in a dive-bar kind of way, and dive bars will always be dear to our hearts — but are they historic architecture? Let's not confuse the two.
One can still experience a dive-bar atmosphere at Monroe's, and Burn, Majerle's, and Sky Lounge are much better examples of small-scale architecture being preserved downtown.
I believe in preservation, too, but in light of recent eminent domain rulings, be sensible! Private property rights are one cornerstone of our freedoms, and this is somebody's land. The power to preserve is the power to condemn. How much power should the city have? Something to think about.
Mike Shipley, Phoenix
Culture clash: As someone who works full-time in the arts in this city, I find it so disappointing that you would print a letter stating that "Phoenix has no culture," regardless of the content of the article to which the letter writer was responding ("Culturally Challenged," Tracey Hunter, December 7). This girl invalidates my life in four words, and you give her a public voice?
Yes, the arts do struggle in this town, mostly because of their perennial underfunding. And it is true that the majority of the citizens of the Valley are largely indifferent to our existence. But it's just inaccurate, and stupid, to say that there's no culture here. Publishing such letters just champions and encourages her brand of ignorant cynicism. We have enough of that here already.
Gregory Falkenstein, Phoenix
Body by Liz
We love her for her mind: Just met Liz Cohen in person. I was blubber-mouthed practically, because I find her compelling in the way she was described in "Hard Body" by Megan Irwin (October 5). I am thrilled that I was able to compliment her accomplishments face-to-face, as I have thought of stopping by to commend her at her shop. Kudos for exposing such a sexy intellect.
Lydia Fourmy, Phoenix
ICE Scream
Run from the border: You are correct when you call ICE a disaster ("Meltdown," Ray Stern, November 16). It is reflective of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in general. Those of us in INS who moved to ICE always thought that an immigration disaster would be the DHS' first black eye, rather than the mishandling of Katrina by FEMA.
Wherever you stand on the issue of immigration reform, can you imagine the problems that will ensue when three separate immigration agencies try to implement the new laws and regulations? Especially when two of the agencies (Border Patrol and ICE) are largely run by former Customs officials who have no sincere interest in Immigration.
Unlike Lee Morgan, who I believe spent most of his INS/Customs career in Arizona, I spent my 34-year career in various locations throughout the United States. I found INS folks to be among the most dedicated and hardest-working people in the federal government, but they never were provided the resources and leadership that they deserved.
Thomas M. Baranick, via the Internet
