Comments (0) Best Urban Planning Blog - 2010
Blooming Rock
For some folks, Phoenix is more than a pit stop on their way to whatever city their company transfers them to next. Some people care about the Valley of the Sun — its history, its topography, its architecture. And no one, it seems, cares about Phoenix as much as Tazmine "Taz" Khatri Loomans, a first-generation immigrant born in Mozambique who attended high school in Mesa, then went to ASU for a master's in architecture. Loomans moved away from the Valley and then, like so many others, came back. Unlike others, she launched a blog that celebrates what there is to love about our city — and candidly criticizes what's wrong with it, too. In cannily written essays about wasted infills, the value of historic preservation, and the peculiar visions of Mayor Phil Gordon, Taz sets out to positively impact the city she loves. Even Phoenix haters (and they're legion, right?) might well be swayed by Taz's clear-headed, well-wrought prose about light rail and dust storms and "the urban forest." It's a heroic feat, sticking up for Phoenix — here's to Taz!
