Oh, one other thing. When I asked people for Phoenix food recommendations, they were like, dude, you're coming from New Mexico - every kind of food that's good in Arizona is better in New Mexico. I'm not saying it's true...it's just funny. ALSO. Consider joining Nebula, the creator-owned streaming platform that shows all my videos ad-free, sponsor-free, and without pointless comments like this one. Using my custom link gets you 40% off an annual subscription, and really helps the channel. go.nebula.tv/citynerd Also STILL available: the Lifetime offer! $300 for Nebula as long as both you and Nebula exist, and a full 1/3 of the price goes directly to support this channel. go.nebula.tv/lifetime?ref=citynerd And! Gift cards -- get the same deals using my code, but gift a membership to someone who needs weekly (ad-free and promo-free) Nerd propaganda! gift.nebula.tv/citynerd
That Old Spaghetti Factory on Central has a repurposed Phoenix trolley from the 40s now serving as several dining booths. There is a history of transit in Phoenix before the 50s.
hey! im the "industrious tennis player" featured in the video. i just wanna highlight that people do in fact walk and bike and take transit in phoenix, and that we deserve better! there have been steps in the right direction (for instance the bus i was catching in the video now runs every 15 minutes on weekdays, along with a handful of other transit service improvements in central phx) and i personally see hope for the future of our city but, as this video highlighted, there is sure a lot more to be done. thank you for highlighting my city, citynerd :)
Thanks for sharing this insightful perspective on urban planning in Phoenix from someone who actually uses public trans! It would be awesome if we could magnify your voice by getting the attention of public officials who are responsible for planning and executing infrastructure projects in your area. You don't have to be a big name to make a positive difference in your community; you just have to speak up.
I miss Changing Hands! I used to teach in PHX. Now I live in the White Mountains. The hottest temperature we’ve had this summer is 89 degrees. Winter is a good 5 months here, but it’s better than an 8-month summer.
Hoping for an urbanist book section 🙏🏼 We (UPP) have Angie Schmitt coming to Phoenix in November and Tucson has Anna Zivart. And tired of folks ordering these books from Amazon 😅
I’ve found Better World Books has a pretty good selection :) not the same as Amazon obviously but it’s had a lot of the obscure stuff I like to read lol
The best part about Phoenix in the summertime is coming out of a frozen movie theater at midnight and luxuriating in beautiful 98 degree comfort. At least until you warm up but by then you are in your car.
Yes, after a full day at work where the AC is set to artic levels and stepping into that heat, just amazing. Unfortunately, by time I get to my car I hate life again. Especially since thete is no shade.
I worked in a freezer warehouse for a summer You can go about 30 minutes in 113 degree heat still wearing a winter jacket and pants before you start to get a little warm. Best summer job I ever had when I was younger
Once they're the majority of cars on the road, that's basically what we'll end up with, trains of robo taxis spacing themselves carefully by radio to create slipstreams to save energy.
@@AD-mq1qj No mass transit should take you directly to your location unless that location is along the transit corridor. Mass transit is planned to link up with pedestrians and bike riders before even other transit types. Walking or biking between mass transit isn't just healthy, but also makes everything else flow better; when it is all planned out well. I have used mass transit in the Phoenix Metropolitan area for over 20 years. It has all slowly gotten better for pedestrians and bike riders, especially after the light rail went in. Progress like this is slow but I hope in another 20 we will have a lot more walkable routes. Too bad we cannot have subway lines or that would make things even better.
@@meggeyer469 Most of our water is used for agriculture and not for growing grass on front lawns. Def would like to see city nerd to do a video some some data to show it.
I've lived in Laramie Wyoming where we spent around $200 in the coldest months on electricity and gas with the thermostat set to about 72. I also lived in Phoenix where we spent $400 per month on electricity to keep our house 'cooled' to 79 degrees
@@MuddyRavine that could simply be because the fuel used to heat homes like natural gas is cheaper but doesn’t negate the fact that it takes more energy to heat cold places than to cool hot places.
It's been 100-110 degrees during the day here in boise, idaho for roughly the past month. It's sad that 110 isn't seen as that extreme by people in the west coast. I do landscape maintenance outside 8 hours a day too, so I've just become accustomed to the heat and being drenched in sweat.
I think the improvement has more to do with efficiency improvements and actual attempts to conserve. Per-acre usage of residential and agriculture is right about the same. It's when you get to industrial usage that things get very very bad. But some industries like semiconductors that use a ton of water have learned to recycle up to 90%, so they have no problem being in the desert.
@blairhoughton7918 Phoenix resident here. That is patently false. You can build a water park on farmland here and save water. People SEVERELY underestimate how much water agriculture uses, which is higher than industrial usage.
@@NiarahHawthorne You're probably looking at statistics that include passive uses like warehouses, not real industrial factories. You can't build a water park and save water. Water parks are lined tanks and all the water it uses evaporates. Farms recharge groundwater when they water crops. Farms also water their entire acreage, and a water park will only be a small fraction of wet space. It's a heck of a strawman argument though, and I bet the waterpark people cheered when you fell for it.
@@blairhoughton7918 No I'm not. You're underestimating how much water it takes to farm in a desert. Again, born and raised here, and I pay attention to that stuff. Agriculture is the number one usage of water in the state, then industrial, then residential But go ahead and tell me I don't know what I'm talking about; I only live here, after all. Also, "water park people cheered?" There is one water park in AZ (Sun Splash) and it only really stays in business because of the mini golf course and school field trips. Nice try though.
I went to Phoenix last year. They do this event the first friday of each month where they block off a few streets and people just go and dance and get food. It's a vibe. The city as a whole is definitely a work in progress though.
7th st isn't that bad in comparison to Grand Ave. Grand Ave is the only street that runs diagonal along the t4ain tracks. So each intersection is a cross of 3 road plus train tracks. It confuses way more people than 7th st does. I know many who live here that completely avoid Grand.
I used to ride that patch of sidewalk on my skateboard with the loosest trucks. It's pretty damn scary especially cause of the cracks in the concrete. I've imagined myself flying into traffic with oncoming traffic a few times ☠️👼🏻
@@pyagtargo1260 That I would agree with, when I took it daily it was cause my job was by the airport and I lived next to sun city. I drove the whole length of grand and it cut down my driving distance and time.
As somebody who lives in the Melrose neighborhood and went to school for urban planning. You nailed the Phoenix experience. There have been ALOT of improvements in my 17 years here and the central/7s midtown to downtown urban environment has improved majorly in that time. Still a lot of work obviously but he slight improvements have big effects.
"A rock garden with desert plants" is known as "xeriscaping" in landscaping, and is what pretty much every city west of the Rockies should be installing instead of water-hungry ugly grass.
Too often, xeriscaping is heavy on gravel which contributes to the heat island effect. Grass has a cooling effect. Shade trees work but they also require water.
As a Phoenix resident for 30+ years I believe you are being very polite while also impressively accurate in your observations. Though I find it hard to believe that you were actually inside The Old Spaghetti Factory because you complimented the food and didn't dine on a street car.
Really cool seeing a lot of my favorite places show up on this. Also as far as "Don't leave your house until 8pm" it's actually a lot closer to "Don't leave your house until September". For some reason the nightlife in Phoenix is kind of lackluster and few places are open past midnight. Plus due to the daylight saving abstinence the sun even sets earlier in the summer but there's still just not a lot of people around this time of year.
There were a lot more places open past midnight until covid struck, which killed a lot of restaurants and bars or caused many other to cut back. It still hasn't recovered.
As someone who grew up in Phoenix, I can confirm that everything you talked about here is generally accurate. I can't wait for that bus riding tennis player to show up in the comments of this video. I also love that Kari Lake is a more disturbing advertisement than a giant scorpion billboard.
I grew up here and still live here. All the transplants are ruining the laid back vibes. Almost ALL of the politicians are not from here, which is a massive concern. People who come here always complain about how it different than where they're from and try to change it.
If CityNerd visited on a weekend, that would explain why it's so empty (I've never seen it full because of events, it's not downtown. Unless people are parking there and then taking the light rail downtown?) but it fills up every day M-F because it used by employees of all the medical centers in that area.
I'm a first time viewer, and as a resident of central Phoenix for 40 years, I find your observations to be spot-on. The City really has made an effort to make this area more pedestrian-friendly, though the basic layout makes it extremely difficult. I can't tell you how absolutely deserted downtown Phoenix was less than 20 years ago. (The building of the stadiums and their garages were NOT helpful, as they merely brought hoards of people into the area when a game was being played; afterwards, they'd walk back to the garages and drive away. The restaurants that opened up in anticipation of a reliable stream of customers were forced to close within a very short time.) The turning point was when Arizona State University finally built a campus there. The changes happened slowly, but they've been accelerating the past 10 years or so. The stroads can't be made to disappear, but I'm glad to learn there's a movement afoot to get rid of the suicide lanes. I did not know that!
I was just going to say this! I used to work downtown at the Herberger Theater Center when it first opened and before the Convention Center expansion so I could see from the Herberger all the way across that concrete “park” expanse thing to Symphony Hall! The streets deserted at 5pm and it was super scary then to have to come in to work a show at night as a female especially! We would have to park a block away and walk in. After a few months of that the Catholic Church there across the side 3rd St to Herberger let us park there at night when we had to work a show. It is absolutely crazy for me to see hundreds of people on the street downtown at night now!
I lived in Phoenix for a few years and we called those lanes suicide lanes for a reason. Most people avoid using them in an effort to avoid the consequences of suicide. I just avoided the whole street altogether. As you've pointed out you have lots of options for travel in a city with a grid layout and multiple highways.
I live in Phoenix, I know the 7th and 7th daily traffic fiasco, and all of the observations here are on point. Just a definitions clarification: the middle bi-directional turn lane, which exists all over the city and in other cities in AZ, is what has always been referred to as the "suicide" lane. The added problem with suicide lane on 7th ave and 7th street is that every weekday at certain hours that center lane turns into an actual traffic lane, with all of the complications noted in the video. At that point it should be called the "certain death" lane.
This is my current city. I do ride my bike in North Phoenix all year round, including in summer. It is just too expensive to have a vehicle. I ride a little over 7 miles each way. I wear sun protective clothing, with a looser wet layer over top and my helmet has a sun shade on it. I soak the loose top layer with ice cold water. I get on my bike sopping wet, but by the time I am opening my garage I am dry. Over the last three years here I have built up my tolerance to the heat.
Born and raised Phoenician here. 4:30 Fun fact about the canals in Phoenix, they are actually the oldest "structures" in the city. Originally dug by the Hohokam, they are over 1000 years old and still in use.
It's engineered to expect that there never will be a pedestrian. That sidewalk next to the Phoenix country Club is there because of zoning. He may have seen one person crossing the street farther down the road but he may have been the first human being to set foot on that stretch of sidewalk since the last guy trimmed the bushes.
Sign at 0:04 is the most confusing jumble of information on a sign I have ever seen. Too many commands on a sign. Too many different time alternatives. Im not even sure what the X means? No turning or no driving in that lane or down that road? Nobody really has time to stop and read the sign when they are deciding if they are going to make a left hand turn in the middle of a stroad. Its not safe. Remove turning altogether.
I live here, it took me a while to understand it. The sign applies to the middle, broken yellow lined lane. This lane is typically used as a turning lane for both directions of traffic. From 6-9am, the yellow lane is designated solely for oncoming traffic to be used as both a driving lane AND a turning lane. From 4-6pm, the lane is to be used solely by the other direction for the same purpose. Other times, it’s used as it normally is. I think this is to give more lanes to the direction of traffic that experiences a higher volume during that time. Ex: morning rush has more commuters going one direction, so it gets more lanes during that time and the other direction experiences higher volume during evening rush.
I recognized it immediately. In Phoenix we call it the suicide lane. Basically, the flow of traffic in the middle lane is different during different times of day. As you can tell by the name “suicide lane”, this causes issues.
I cannot believe that sign is right by a few high schools where several people are probably driving for the first time and it definitely isn’t part of the permit test.
so. much. tarmac. that alone has to raise the temperature by 5C/10-12F... add to that the heat generated by the constant output of AC and the friction of tires, and the engines...it's just endless....insanity.
What's interesting is if you go look up the heat map for Phoenix (crap I forget who just started a site for those). The west side is several degrees hotter than the east side. And wouldn't you know it? It looks a lot like the map of incomes on both sides... I expect the difference is either the quality of the pavement itself, or the density and size of trees, or the ratio of rooftop to yard.
They're trying out something called 'Cool Pavement' where the pavement is a whitish-grey color that supposed to reflect heat instead of absorbing it. Its not everywhere, but hopefully they expand it.
@@atoth62 Double-edged sword. It reduces air temperature overall, but anything in the reflected light gets worse. Large benefit paid for by small horror show.
You mentioned the light rail still being only one line, but that actually will be changing early next year. The light rail is expanding south on Central Ave past downtown to Baseline road (a 5 mile extension) and the line will be split into two line, a north-south line and an east-west line.
As a wheelchair user, I view robotaxis the same way I view stroad ADA ramps. Yeah, I've been told that they're meant to be wheelchair accessible with ramps and all. How is that in practice though? How many of the robotaxis actually have those fancy ramps that Waymo advertised one time? Because judging by the wait times the last time I was in Phoenix visiting family, it was about none of them.
idk how it works for nonresidents but I drive for Metro Valley ADA paratransit and I drive folks all over the city even way out to fringe-rural suburbs for a $0-4 fare, right alongside these robotaxis lol. Still a big work in progress but there's definitely options for wheelchair users and others unable to use cars or public transit for whatever reason. Before I started working here I didn't even know this service existed, but Phoenix seems to do a lot of transit projects "quietly".
My brother went to ASU for a year during the 80's. Being a poor college student, he owned no car, so he rode a bicycle around to get around. When it was hot, he said it was like riding with a blow dryer pointed at his face.
When the air is cooler than your skin (~90F), moving through it actually makes it cool you even more. The reverse is true when it's hotter than you. So riding a bike in 110 is like standing in 130.
About the "Streets" & "Avenues" situation....Maybe you didn't realize that everything west of Central is labeled in the "Avenues", while everything east of Central is labeled in the "Streets".... Many people that live here actually find this quite helpful!
Yes, Avenues and Boulevards in the West, and Streets, Places, and Ways in the East. I've met people needing directions to, say, 38th Ave when we were on 38th St,, and it sucks to have to tell them how far off they are. 😥 Another thing that makes it easy to find your way around is that, with a few exceptions like the sevens, the major streets on the West side are odd numbers and on the East side they're even. So if I tell someone I'm at 44th and Camelback, they know I mean the street = East side.
Thats one of the things i do love about the road layout here in Phoenix. You can easily get an idea of where something is just based on the crossroads. 35th Ave and Lower Buckeye? - Industrial area in Phoenix right next to one of the jails iirc. 75th Ave and Northern? - Northern end of Glendale near Peoria. in the northwest side of the city 91st Ave and Van Buren? - Tolleson. 52nd Street and McDowell? - iirc there's an AZNG Place there and its right up against Papago Park. The layout just seems to work once you realize the general layout of the grid. So much more than the few times i've been through other cities lol, but i will admit that, that is more than likely local bias there.
Are you thinking of the little hill on McDowell right before you get to Scottsdale? Whenever I'm in the area and heading West, I always try to take McDowell - especially around sunset. Such a beautiful view!
Thanks for the fair coverage of my city. The constant snarky commentary from people about it gets tiring because its always been my home and I love it for all its faults.
Funny seeing you retrace my steps in almost every shot lol. Lived downtown for a long time. Echo the same thoughts about the 7ths and I was in shock when i decided to walk next to that golf course to get to a med restaurant hah.
a big thing i noticed while in arizona is the lack of consideration of speed limits. traffic oftentimes would going 10 or 15 over the speed limit in normal roads and 20+ over on the freeway.
Phoenix is actually quite dedicated to expanding their light rail, and it sees extensions semi-frequently. It's better in that regard than most other cities in the Sun Belt, at least.
LOL yes they just extended light rail to a Wal-mart anchoring a shopping mall that closed 10 years ago. Yay Light Rail! The political will does not exist here yet to build the light rail where it is currently useful so they are building where it's cheap and not controversial, betting that if they build it the development will eventually follow.
@@monk3ysmuggler The area will be redeveloped Look at Tempe for example the ASU area has been redeveloped There is political will local politicians do support light rail
@@monk3ysmuggler The mall is going to be redeveloped. Look at Downtown right now and 10 years also it's more dense. Phoenix has political will they are funding future light rail projects.
@@danielportillo9266 Light rail never would have been built if it was left up to the politicians it was a voter initiative that I voted for. I'm not trying to be critical I am a huge fan and use it as much as possible but I have also seen the slow pace of expansion and been frustrated by the lack of focus that makes it very much a long term investment with little benefit to people like myself that are riding bikes and walking through these despicable carcentric streets. I'm sure the development will come eventually it would be cool if it connected to someplace where people currently live and go to. It's frustrating close and useless to me currently so I apologize if I seem bitter or critical.
A huge culture shock when I was living in the US was the realization that drivers won't stop for pedestrians and that they don't consider it rude. That tennis racket girl waiting to cross and not a single driver stopping for her!!!
I just got back from a trip to Germany and France, and I was shocked that drivers in Germany let me cross. To them it was probably nothing, but to me I'm like these people are so nice. It might be cultural or due to intense traffic but Paris was a lot like Phoenix. Drivers will not stop for you and you better be careful crossing.
There are some very large and very ancient cities that have climates similar to that of Phoenix: Cairo, Baghdad, Damascus, Basra, Karachi, Tripoli. Subtropical deserts have hosted large cities for a long time.
Phoenix vs Minneapolis energy cost comparison would be amazing. I live in Minneapolis and work for a company in Phoenix. I basically refuse to move there. But this comparison would be entertaining, and maybe fun into to share with my coworkers when they gloat in the winter.
Phoenix is higher. Winter in minneapolis is 3-4 months and getting shorter every year. Summer in Phoenix is 6-7 months and gets longer every year. It is normal in Phoenix to have the ac running 24/7 for 6 months straight. Source: I live there.
Lol I live in the Phoenix area and any time I visit Minneapolis, people say they are sorry to hear I live in Phoenix, but every one I know from the Midwest prefers Phoenix a lot more
@@kingofthemoon3063 you're forgetting people in Minneapolis use ac as well, except people outside of phoenix regularly set their ac to 69 or below in their poorly insulated homes where plenty of Arizonans have it set at 80 or above. (Also running your AC 24/7 is more energy efficient than turning it off and on again due to how much energy it takes to re-cool your home)
Thank you for coming to our city. I always love your content. I am not defending 7th ave / 7th st, but I can give some context. Phoenix is a surprisingly new city. Compared to the rest of the country, we got our freeways very late. The I-17 was built in the early '70s and the 51 in the early '90s. The I-10 (the one with the 'lid' park on top and the one that stretches coast to coast) was not completed until 1990. The sevens, as you call them, were invented well before the freeways were installed. At the time, Phoenix was much smaller, perhaps less than a million compared to our current almost 5 million people. At the time, most of downtown employment lived just north of downtown and the weird rules were a way to get people home. The people going home lived about six miles north of downtown, hardly far out. Unfortunately, you did not venture a little farther north on Central. The remains of the original bridal path that ran up central are still in use north of Bethany Home Road, they have wonderful shade trees. The sevens weird rules are easily 30 years past their usefulness, but maybe we keep them because, in a city that has so many dangerous natural things like the heat or the scorpions, having a dangerous roadway just seems on brand.
i moved to downtown phoenix in 2017 and the changes there between 2017 and 2022 when i left were insane. at one point there were like 13 cranes which was so unique for the area. i actually really loved living there and it's crazy seeing how much it continues to change every time i go back. also i love your dry humor lol.
I live immediately off 7th Ave just south of the Melrose District. I'm so glad you focused on the issues with the 7s. But also . . . it was only 108. It wasn't that hot.
I used to live on 7th Avenue and I would see a car crash in the center (aka the 'suicide') lane AT LEAST once a week. Everyone that lives in the area knows to never drive in it. No one understands how it works so it's incredibly dangerous with illegal left turns or people literally just driving the wrong direction.
16th Street in DC had one of those when I was a kid. It was completely obvious how it worked. When the signs over the middle lane are a red X you stay out of it, and when they are a green arrow you can use it like a regular lane. It's not the design that's a problem. It's letting people with IQs lower than 50 have driver's licenses that's the problem.
@@blairhoughton7918 That only works if drivers are concentrating on driving. Which, according to my experience, is less than a quarter. And I include myself in there. When I needed to car commute, I would do most of that on half-autopilot, certainly not ready for a deer or a child suddenly jumping on the street. It's just how we humans are, which is why ou need to build the roads to account for that. Those yellow lane do not do that.
@@frafraplanner9277 it's got permanent signs that tell you exactly what the point is. But a little solar red/green light on each one wouldn't be a bad idea.
Higher speed E-Bikes are king in AZ. There are canals and 30mph side streets to get you most places but keeping up with traffic on the 30mph streets is a game changer.
Just arrived home from Arizona including one night in Phoenix. My 5yo had a great description of the misters, she called them water fans, and I'll never get that verbiage out of my brain. It's weird to walk around a city at 10 p.m. at night and it being 95 degrees, but there was more going on in downtown PHX than I thought there would be (I had always associated Phoenix with major sprawl, single-family homes, barbed wire and rocks).
As a Phoenix resident I agree the “suicide lanes” are stupid! They were adopted in the 70s before SR 51 was a thing as a way for commuters to go north and south from downtown. Most people now don’t understand how they work and when I worked at a restaurant on 7th and Missouri I saw 3 collisions in 6 months of working there.
Never been to AR, but we have them all over the country. My Dad always called them ‘suicide lanes’. One time I almost got to experience why we called them that. Was turning into a Starbucks n another driver tried to illegally pass traffic in the other direction. She was pretty upset, maybe she should of been upset at her own intelligence.
As someone who is a transplant to Phoenix, listening to how you feel about the pedestrian situation here, I would love to hear your feelings on Pittsburgh in January lol From crumbling to just non existent sidewalks, more city steps than any other city in the country (1/10th of which actually get salted and shoveled in the depths of winter, also crumbling and in disrepair) streets so narrow you actually laugh out loud when you're pulling off to the side of the road to let opposing traffic pass as you realize it's actually a two way street. Driving in endless circles in hopes to find a place to park and still somehow managing to get a parking ticket. Hell, a bridge literally collapsed there the same day the president was in town for a speech on infrastructure. Coming from that, to somewhere like Phoenix is honestly a breath of fresh air. Also, "unable to bike most of the year"?? It's hot for 3 months and then literally perfect outside every day without fail for the other 9 months. Maybe I'm just overly enthusiastic because it rains/is cloudy on average 206 days a year where I come from. Just, go to Pittsburgh in January lol I honestly feel like you won't fully believe it until you see it for yourself.
As a valley resident currently suffering through another summer, I keep repeating the mantra that everyone else here repeats: “Our winters are nice. Our winters are nice. Our winters are nice.”
The Kari Lake joke (10:37) resulted in one of the biggest laughs I've let out in a long time. Seriously you're one of the funniest RUclipsrs out there!
Phoenix was on my list of potential new homes when I was desperate to get out of Maine almost 20 years ago. For a lot of reasons, I'm glad I didn't go there. But it's nice to see it making strides in the right direction.
@@kskssxoxskskss2189 I live car free. The fact that I can is one of the many things I love about the area. So, traffic isn't a big issue for me, other than the dangers presented by bad road design & unsafe drivers.
Hey there, first timer to the channel but of course I got a video about MY city in my RUclips recommended! Great stuff. A few things I would like to highlight as someone who lives outside of Central Phoenix but still in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, the lightrail absolutely rocks! As well as some of the free buses. Directly from my house there's a bus (completely free! and well air conditioned!) that comes every 30 minutes and can take me directly to the Mesa public library. Which, actually, has a lot of really beneficial resources for the community. A fairly short walk from there (if you take the shortcut through the ASU MIX center, which anyone can do if its open) is the lightrail station. The light rail traverses basically the entirety of the greater Phoenix area and its wonderful. There's also a lightrail station directly outside every ASU campus, the stadiums, and, as it happens, my highschool! So after school I can pay $2 to get to the library (which is super easy to do with the recently implemented smart fare system and the app) and then i can spend a bit studying there and take a free bus home! The only downside to the bus is it comes every 30 minutes, 20 or 15 minutes would be nicer but it's free so I'm really not that mad. There's definitely a lot to be improved but as a highschooler without a bike or car, I can get almost anywhere for 2$ or less.
It is nice to see a fairly balanced view of Phoenix. It gets a lot of hate by people who haven’t been here much and I have been watching it improve dramatically for the past 15 years. Still a long way to go but really nice that they are trying.
Thank you for visiting Phoenix, this great video, and the time many of us got to have with you at Royale! There's a lot of work to do and a lot of great work being done, and I appreciate you realistically covering the highlights. Phoenix has been a great city to live in for the last decade-plus -- and I am excited that we are making it more walkable, bikeable, and transit-oriented for future generations! I hope this video inspires more people to come and see what is happening in Phoenix ...maybe just not in the heat of the summer haha
@@Urban_Avenues Glendale should have approved light rail west extensions so people could get to experience alternate travel to west gate for sports and entertainment !
Those trains are absolutely disgusting. Homeless people abuse them and they're only in scary areas. 😂 Don't connect the nice areas to the disgusting downtown and Tempe.
Yeah. I saw that ad almost every day when I was riding my bike home from my local gym (it was at the Thunderbird/Rio Vista stop), and I wondered how many people would even see the ad, much less be convinced by it.
The robot cars are way better than the stupid Tesla tunnels,. There is a partnership with Valley Metro & the robot cars to create more seamless connections. It's not a bad experience at all. Soon you will be able to book the car in the Valley Metro app.
I used to commute by bike in Phoenix. It was a bit scary on some of the streets without a bike lane, but the weather was fine once you're moving. It's a dry heat. Check out the Fry Bread House next time you're there. Man, I miss that place.
Thank you for going over Phoenix! My Father was the director for the redesign of roosevelt row, and we also live downtown! It was fun seeing my home, especially the blocks around my home detailed out. Thank you for such a fascinating video!
The "robot" taxis are like the Amazon Fresh stores, there's outsourced drivers intervening whenever the computer doesn't feel confident. Pre rollout tests suggested human intervention was needed every 5K. And Phoenix is just ideal for them. Giant, flat, dry, straight, low traffic roads with simple open, visible sides. Phoenix was chosen specifically because of how atypical it is.
I spent my senior year of high school in Phoenix. Our school gave us public transit vouchers instead of having its own bus system, so I got to experience many of the same things. Waiting to transfer between bus lines in 110+ heat was an interesting experience. One time I had a box of tic-tacs in my backpack, and both the tic-tacs AND THE BOX melted! However, there was nothing better than getting home afterwards and having a nice cool glass of ice tea. Also, those canal roads are actual examples of "bike through traffic." People also ride horses on them.
Regarding the streets vs avenues: avenues are west of Central and streets are east of Central. For example, 56th street is about 56 blocks east of Central and 7th ave is about 7 blocks west of Central. It helps when trying to visualize the longitude of a cross street. For east/west streets, you just have to memorize them.
Loving that the building I work in off Central is featured in midtown! This is such a comprehensive breakdown of my city and I love... As much crap as you give this city, you still acknowledge we're headed in the right direction!
Born and Raised in Phoenix! It’s always funny what people think of Arizona, most don’t realize our weather is damn near perfect November-April , June-August is terrible but 8 months of pretty good warm weather is fine to me.
The downtown you show us is way, way improved over what I saw the last time I was there, some 12 or more years ago. Looking forward to the car-free neighborhood video coming up.
While I'm not a total adovate for self-driving cars, I do agree that the roads would be safter with "drivers" that actually pay attention. I can't tell you how many times I've seen eyelash curlers in use on the freeway.
I’ve also seen people drive on the toll road in Florida while eating and drinking, possibly even after drinking alcohol or taking drugs, talking on a handheld phone, looking back to talk with other people and one person being an accident because they were paying their bills over the phone.
Traffic laws are a joke in Phoenix, more pedestrians are killed in Phoenix than any other US city. During rush hour half the drivers in the carpool lane are single. Red lights and, especially speed limits are mere suggestions.
I lived just south of the country club (on the wrong side of the wall) 20 years ago. It’s fascinating to see how much has changed and how much it all still feels the same. I doubt I’ll ever move back there by choice but I am glad to see the light rail and ASU’s presence are finally pushing things in a positive direction.
I've always enjoyed going to the Phoenix area, especially in the late winter/early spring. I like to leave my midwestern weather consisting of slush-rain and escape to a place in the 80s.
Just moved to Phoenix this past week. Your video is a perfect encapsilation of all the the things I immeaditly noticed. The public transportation seems be trying to work but is just falling short of effective. I take the train to class downtown and the trains are consistently late and run ~20 minutes apart making timing my commute very difficult. I do have a car and have to use it to go get groceries, etc but the drivers are horrible and the roads are insane just like you said. Phoenix is definitely an odd place when trying to get around.
I successfully rode Portland's Trimet transit for everything I needed for years on an expired student pass without ever getting caught. Busses, Max, Streetcar, for school, work, and shopping. It's incredible that you got fare checked as much as you did.
The issue is homeless people riding all day. Surprised that is not an issue in Portland (or does Portland tolerate only fare-checking the people who look homeless?).
@@stevengordon3271Having lived in major metro areas most of my life, I figured the fare-checking was a way to prevent the unhouused from using transit. I cannot imagine how the unhoused can stand to live in a place like that. OTOH, how would one escape it?
@@charlienyc1 It is a problem. Not sure whether winter survival in the north or summer survival in the south is worse. There was a time when the hobos hopped the rails to migrate with the weather. If I was personally homeless in Phoenix, I would attempt to keep a low profile in the public library during the day.
I live in Phoenix in an area that was the outskirts of town back in 1955 when my house was built. Now, there are lots of houses being torn down and replaced with the kind of homes you see on HGTV. People get a nice house without the long commute, and no HOA!
Then there's Wickenburg Ranch, Santan Valley and Buckeye. 40 or more miles from Phoenix and continuing to sprawl like no tomorrow. There's a ballot measure coming up this fall to extend the half cent transit tax, locking in almost another hundred miles of freeways. Transit gets the shaft, none of the tax can be used to extend light rail. The area along light rail from Central and Camelback to Tempe is a real outlier in Phoenix, the remaining 99% of the Valley of the Sprawl is just that.
I lived in the Metro area for over 27 years (along with 4 years going to school in Flagstaff for 4), and went sans automobile for 10. I always referred to the bus system (before the light rail system was forced upon the General Electorate kicking and screaming) as Phoenix Arizona Rapid Transit, or PhART. (Make up your own joke.)
ahhhh Phoenix my home town. Even after living in London still has a place in my heart. And unpopular opinion I love the mid century modern architectural style combined with the desert.
We took Waymo for the first time to a nice restaurant in Scottsdale on our anniversary dinner because we were both going to drink... It was a great experience, and def looking forward to using it again.
I am tired of living in Phoenix. I have lived here for almost 40 years! When I retire, I am returning to my hometown where there are four seasons, grass, trees, rain and cooler summers. I, absolutely, avoid 7th Street and 7th Avenue during rush hour. I never got used to the middle lane. Phoenix has become much too big, much too populated and much too hot. I am ready for a change!
Been here 31 years in Phoenix metro (and I've lived in AZ all of my life). Similar feelings start hitting everyone around late July through September. And change is good. But I'm just not sold on anywhere else there's a better OVERALL living situation in the continental US. Yes, Phoenix metro has venomous critters and blazing hot summers. But everywhere else has one or more of the following: hurricanes, tornadoes, super-sized hail, earthquakes, sinkholes, humid summers, ice storms + sleet, heavy snow + black ice, blizzards, or major floods. Pick your poison. And our man-made problems - bad traffic and mid-20th century city planning - have man-made solutions: Better city planning (being applied now), pesticides for critters (and an optional 12 gauge shotgun for rattlers in the exurbs), and an efficient A/C for enduring the "Arizona Winter" (mid-June through early October) indoors. If the SW states solve their water rights issues and don't ruin the area with global warming, Phoenix metro has a long and bright future.
Valley metro has a long way to go, I think we waste a lot of space for double lane roads with middle turning lanes, which would be so useful to get two or three more light rail routes. Light rails should also have sprinklers and more shade. It would take me 3.5 hrs to do a 35 mins drive to my family's home even though we have light rail stops not too far (3 miles) from each others home
The shaders as you see in your video don't cover any of the ground when needed, they should be taller than the light rail itself and extend past it so that people actually can wait for their stops while maintaining their health
excellent timing to see this video right as i’m planning my own trip to Phoenix! i’m glad to see at least one city in the southwest is making good urbanist improvements (unlike Vegas)
I'm honestly surprised you were able to find one of the few billboards left that aren't accident or injury attorney advertisement billboards. It seems like every one i see here nowadays is one.
yeah, it would be nice to see some real estate ads. Car repair shop ads would be good as well. There are a number of ASU and GCU advertisements from time to time
In addition to the Suns/Mercury & Diamondbacks, Phoenix Rising FC (the city's USL soccer team) is also quite accessible via public transit as their stadium by Sky Harbor Airport is only a couple blocks walk from the 38th & Washington light rail station. Contrast this with the Cardinals who play way out in Glendale which is a 2 hour bus ride or 40 minute drive (assuming there is not traffic) from downtown.
More on Park Central, yes it is a repurposed shopping mall from the 50s. The revitalization started right before Covid in 2018. Last year a new gym opened up there and it’s become a lot livelier now with people around most hours of the day with a few shops and restaurants and bars one of my favorite areas of midtown along with Melrose
Please do that comparison of energy consumption in Phoenix during summer vs a comparable city from the East Coast during winter. I have always been curious about that. Thanks for visiting!
I just learned recently that half of the east valley, a significant portion of the Phoenix metro, doesn't even have bus service! Like, even as someone who drives everywhere, wtf is that?!
OMG truly one of my favorites of yours EVER! 🤣 I live at 7th Ave and Thomas in Midtown Phoenix and have for the past three years. Your comments about the area are truly spot on and I'm still laughing over your comment about disturbing signs you saw on Phoenix streets as your camera pans over a Kari Lake for Senate campaign ad HAHA!!! I'm so sorry I missed seeing at the Royal, that's right up the street from me and I will absolutely sign the petition to remove the reverse lanes on 7th Ave and 7th St. They are dangerous, no one understands how they are supposed to work - and I regularly hear cars slamming on the breaks and honking during AM and PM commutes along 7th Ave. THANK YOU for braving our city in the middle of summer and for helping to amplify efforts to continue responsible densification and livability here in Central Phoenix (and beyond!)
Grateful you survived the 7s 😅 perverse reverse lanes. Awesome 👌 overview of our light rail and downtown. Appreciate you pointing out the dangers of the reverse lanes. So many citizens, and even a few council members, have worked hard over the years to get them removed. By now, especially post-pandemic, their excuses for keeping them are exaggeratedly moot.
You thnk its different in PHX? We cool our homes 6-7 mos a year, at ridiculous costs. Winter nights are cold, too. This aint Key West! Freezing temps occur many times a year. Heat here is a must, too.
To be fair, the lows in february here (phx) can reach below 30*. I use to live in minnesota, so i know its still nothing, but coming out to my car in phoenix and my doors are frozen shut, is a bit baffling.
@@03focussvt943 I'm sorry but heat is not a must here, I sleep with my window open half of the time in the winter and I'd say there are more times where I want to cool my place rather than heat it. And there are really only 3 months of the year where cooling your house is an energy/financial issue.
Recommend in Phoenix... Portland Street (historic houses with tall row of street palm trees), Culdesac development, Downtown Tempe, Downtown Phoenix, The Churchill container village and beer garden, MacAlpines 1920s Soda Fountain, Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa, Phoenix Central Library.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t understand why we have that middle reverse turn lane. It’s so dangerous and I will go out of my way just to avoid trying to make a left hand turn.
Great video, I still want to visit Phoenix. My new co-worker is an ASU grad and describes Phoenix the same way you did. Don't go out till after 8pm, find misters, and stay hydrated!
It's not all fake hipster bait, either. That was the era when they started building things out of stuff that just would not decay in the dry heat. Also the era when a few companies decided that it would be a good place to move thousands and thousands of people all at once.
![Coheed and Cambria - Searching for Tomorrow [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/hDsYGLbmadg/mqdefault.jpg)
Oh, one other thing. When I asked people for Phoenix food recommendations, they were like, dude, you're coming from New Mexico - every kind of food that's good in Arizona is better in New Mexico. I'm not saying it's true...it's just funny. ALSO. Consider joining Nebula, the creator-owned streaming platform that shows all my videos ad-free, sponsor-free, and without pointless comments like this one. Using my custom link gets you 40% off an annual subscription, and really helps the channel. go.nebula.tv/citynerd
Also STILL available: the Lifetime offer! $300 for Nebula as long as both you and Nebula exist, and a full 1/3 of the price goes directly to support this channel. go.nebula.tv/lifetime?ref=citynerd
And! Gift cards -- get the same deals using my code, but gift a membership to someone who needs weekly (ad-free and promo-free) Nerd propaganda! gift.nebula.tv/citynerd
Do you have an opinion of different Mexican food of the South Western states, i.e. SoCal vs Arizona/NM vs Tex Mex.
As someone who lived in new Mexico for a while, I have to agree. The food is surprisingly good there.
That Old Spaghetti Factory on Central has a repurposed Phoenix trolley from the 40s now serving as several dining booths. There is a history of transit in Phoenix before the 50s.
Did you not get up to Arcosanti to tour America's prototype car-free city that can only be reached by car?
los dos molinos, camelback and 10th street. good new mexican.
hey! im the "industrious tennis player" featured in the video. i just wanna highlight that people do in fact walk and bike and take transit in phoenix, and that we deserve better! there have been steps in the right direction (for instance the bus i was catching in the video now runs every 15 minutes on weekdays, along with a handful of other transit service improvements in central phx) and i personally see hope for the future of our city but, as this video highlighted, there is sure a lot more to be done. thank you for highlighting my city, citynerd :)
Thanks for sharing this insightful perspective on urban planning in Phoenix from someone who actually uses public trans! It would be awesome if we could magnify your voice by getting the attention of public officials who are responsible for planning and executing infrastructure projects in your area. You don't have to be a big name to make a positive difference in your community; you just have to speak up.
it seems people in cars don't respect the pedestrian laws though lol
What a small world!
It is nice that there are small improvements happening all over in each of the cities here :D
I like your Phoenix slander video, although I can't say I've ever actually been there :P
Fuck, I missed my sidewalk exit, now I have to stay on the express sidewalk for another 2km.
ugh. goddamn thru pedestrians..
@@bbbnuy3945Why don't they use the HOV sidewalk? That's why we built it.
hop up brother, I'll carry you on my back so we can use the pedestrian car-pool lane together
lmao exactly
@@ianglenn2821 He ain't heavy, he's my rideshare... 🎶
Wow, a shout from CityNerd! Thanks for the kind words, and for visiting the bookstore and our First Draft Book Bar. Really appreciate it.
If I was staying longer, First Draft would very much be my hangout! Love a great indie bookstore
Love Changing Hands and this channel!
I miss Changing Hands! I used to teach in PHX. Now I live in the White Mountains. The hottest temperature we’ve had this summer is 89 degrees. Winter is a good 5 months here, but it’s better than an 8-month summer.
Hoping for an urbanist book section 🙏🏼 We (UPP) have Angie Schmitt coming to Phoenix in November and Tucson has Anna Zivart. And tired of folks ordering these books from Amazon 😅
I’ve found Better World Books has a pretty good selection :) not the same as Amazon obviously but it’s had a lot of the obscure stuff I like to read lol
The best part about Phoenix in the summertime is coming out of a frozen movie theater at midnight and luxuriating in beautiful 98 degree comfort. At least until you warm up but by then you are in your car.
One of us... One of us...
Walking out of an overcooled bar and getting all that free energy...
Yes, after a full day at work where the AC is set to artic levels and stepping into that heat, just amazing.
Unfortunately, by time I get to my car I hate life again. Especially since thete is no shade.
I worked in a freezer warehouse for a summer You can go about 30 minutes in 113 degree heat still wearing a winter jacket and pants before you start to get a little warm. Best summer job I ever had when I was younger
lol that is definitely a Phoenix experience
Ok now take all of the robot taxis, connect them together, put them on a grid and a schedule... Oh wait we just recreated a streetcar.
Once they're the majority of cars on the road, that's basically what we'll end up with, trains of robo taxis spacing themselves carefully by radio to create slipstreams to save energy.
Streetcars can't take you directly to places
@@AD-mq1qj
No mass transit should take you directly to your location unless that location is along the transit corridor. Mass transit is planned to link up with pedestrians and bike riders before even other transit types. Walking or biking between mass transit isn't just healthy, but also makes everything else flow better; when it is all planned out well.
I have used mass transit in the Phoenix Metropolitan area for over 20 years. It has all slowly gotten better for pedestrians and bike riders, especially after the light rail went in. Progress like this is slow but I hope in another 20 we will have a lot more walkable routes. Too bad we cannot have subway lines or that would make things even better.
@@LordofSyn where in the world are there transit stops at every corner?
@@AD-mq1qj
I never said there would be transit stops at every corner. I even mentioned that walking/biking is a necessity to connect.
That energy comparison between a Minneapolis winter and a Phoenix summer would be interesting. I'd like to see that one.
Bring it on!
Lots of people use solar here in the southwest, but I think it would be important to look at water usage too!
@@meggeyer469 Most of our water is used for agriculture and not for growing grass on front lawns. Def would like to see city nerd to do a video some some data to show it.
I've lived in Laramie Wyoming where we spent around $200 in the coldest months on electricity and gas with the thermostat set to about 72. I also lived in Phoenix where we spent $400 per month on electricity to keep our house 'cooled' to 79 degrees
@@MuddyRavine that could simply be because the fuel used to heat homes like natural gas is cheaper but doesn’t negate the fact that it takes more energy to heat cold places than to cool hot places.
108º? You were here on a cooler day.
Its 3 AM right now and its still 97 degrees outside 😂
He definitely got lucky
It's been 100-110 degrees during the day here in boise, idaho for roughly the past month. It's sad that 110 isn't seen as that extreme by people in the west coast. I do landscape maintenance outside 8 hours a day too, so I've just become accustomed to the heat and being drenched in sweat.
Can confirm. Currently 110F in the East Valley.
108° is like being in the Arctic during the summer months in Phoenix
@@CadgerChristmasLightShow be careful with yourself friend. Hydrate and take breaks. 😢
“Not to be confused with the grand canal in Venice” LMAOOOOO
@@simonkutenga5 where was that line?
@@grahamturner26404:47
I call the Grand Canal the GC canal - for the grocery carts that are dumped into it. However the Arizona Canal is a legitimately great bike trail.
@@grahamturner26404:47
For just a second it feels like you're living in renaissance Italy
Water usage actually peaked in the 1980s in Phoenix and has been on a steady decline since then as agricultural land was redeveloped into housing.
We use much less water now while being more than twice the size
I think the improvement has more to do with efficiency improvements and actual attempts to conserve. Per-acre usage of residential and agriculture is right about the same. It's when you get to industrial usage that things get very very bad. But some industries like semiconductors that use a ton of water have learned to recycle up to 90%, so they have no problem being in the desert.
@blairhoughton7918 Phoenix resident here. That is patently false. You can build a water park on farmland here and save water. People SEVERELY underestimate how much water agriculture uses, which is higher than industrial usage.
@@NiarahHawthorne You're probably looking at statistics that include passive uses like warehouses, not real industrial factories. You can't build a water park and save water. Water parks are lined tanks and all the water it uses evaporates. Farms recharge groundwater when they water crops. Farms also water their entire acreage, and a water park will only be a small fraction of wet space. It's a heck of a strawman argument though, and I bet the waterpark people cheered when you fell for it.
@@blairhoughton7918 No I'm not. You're underestimating how much water it takes to farm in a desert. Again, born and raised here, and I pay attention to that stuff. Agriculture is the number one usage of water in the state, then industrial, then residential
But go ahead and tell me I don't know what I'm talking about; I only live here, after all.
Also, "water park people cheered?" There is one water park in AZ (Sun Splash) and it only really stays in business because of the mini golf course and school field trips. Nice try though.
I went to Phoenix last year. They do this event the first friday of each month where they block off a few streets and people just go and dance and get food. It's a vibe. The city as a whole is definitely a work in progress though.
i thought every city had a Good Friday 🥲
First Friday
@@Alexlpz22This would be more like Fat Tuesday actually
That sidewalk of a stroad in Phoenix heat is the hell bad urbanists get sent to walk forever.
Curse my bad life choices for leading me to 7th St
7th st isn't that bad in comparison to Grand Ave.
Grand Ave is the only street that runs diagonal along the t4ain tracks. So each intersection is a cross of 3 road plus train tracks.
It confuses way more people than 7th st does.
I know many who live here that completely avoid Grand.
I used to ride that patch of sidewalk on my skateboard with the loosest trucks. It's pretty damn scary especially cause of the cracks in the concrete. I've imagined myself flying into traffic with oncoming traffic a few times ☠️👼🏻
@@kylaluv8453 I purposely avoid grand because it is so easy to miss my turn and I do not want to deal with that on grand
@@pyagtargo1260 That I would agree with, when I took it daily it was cause my job was by the airport and I lived next to sun city. I drove the whole length of grand and it cut down my driving distance and time.
Culdesac has got to be the most ironic name for a car free development in the entire universe
Good catch!
I thought the same (but everyone did probably)
a culdesac with a cut-through path for pedestrians and cyclists is pretty based though
@@weirdfish1216I grew up on one of those, and it was for real that the connector path greatly increased the pedestrian traffic.
Ehh needs a real Metro ... Then we can remove 17 and 10 and Force robot freight trains and car trains
As somebody who lives in the Melrose neighborhood and went to school for urban planning. You nailed the Phoenix experience. There have been ALOT of improvements in my 17 years here and the central/7s midtown to downtown urban environment has improved majorly in that time. Still a lot of work obviously but he slight improvements have big effects.
"A rock garden with desert plants" is known as "xeriscaping" in landscaping, and is what pretty much every city west of the Rockies should be installing instead of water-hungry ugly grass.
Everyone look up "kill your lawn". Perfectly homogeneous grass is the silicone lip injections of horticulture.
It's becoming common in Santa Barbara, much to the chagrin of older locals, who complain about the "Phoenix-by-the-sea" aesthetic.
Too often, xeriscaping is heavy on gravel which contributes to the heat island effect. Grass has a cooling effect. Shade trees work but they also require water.
Pacific Northwest rainforest: "Am I joke to you?"
*West of the Rockies and South of Mt. Shasta
As a Phoenix resident for 30+ years I believe you are being very polite while also impressively accurate in your observations. Though I find it hard to believe that you were actually inside The Old Spaghetti Factory because you complimented the food and didn't dine on a street car.
He figured a Spaghetti Factory must be to spaghetti as a Cheesecake Factory is to cheesecake.
As a college student I always liked the Manager's Special, a plate of spaghetti with all four sauces. The mizithra cheese was the best.
Really cool seeing a lot of my favorite places show up on this. Also as far as "Don't leave your house until 8pm" it's actually a lot closer to "Don't leave your house until September". For some reason the nightlife in Phoenix is kind of lackluster and few places are open past midnight. Plus due to the daylight saving abstinence the sun even sets earlier in the summer but there's still just not a lot of people around this time of year.
*November lol
Look up snowbirds. There are literally more people in town when it's not over 100 every day.
There were a lot more places open past midnight until covid struck, which killed a lot of restaurants and bars or caused many other to cut back. It still hasn't recovered.
I was born in Phoenix, never really lived in Phoenix, but predict one day I'll die in Phoenix (bare knuckle boxing a robot taxi in motion)
that actually made me lol 🤣
Spend one day here, it will happen
As someone who grew up in Phoenix, I can confirm that everything you talked about here is generally accurate. I can't wait for that bus riding tennis player to show up in the comments of this video.
I also love that Kari Lake is a more disturbing advertisement than a giant scorpion billboard.
People keep vandalizing the Kari Lake signs anyway (for good reason I suppose). Always a few days up and then gets tagged all over.
I grew up here and still live here. All the transplants are ruining the laid back vibes. Almost ALL of the politicians are not from here, which is a massive concern. People who come here always complain about how it different than where they're from and try to change it.
The kari lake bit was hilarious
well. one is a dangerous venom dripping predatory creature,
and the other is an arachnid, native to the area.
@@scottleggejr welcome to every city everywhere for all of time.
"Does 10 stories of parking reflect the invisible hand of the free market?" hahaha
unfortunately that thing absolutely does fill up during any kind of comic con or sporting event.
If CityNerd visited on a weekend, that would explain why it's so empty (I've never seen it full because of events, it's not downtown. Unless people are parking there and then taking the light rail downtown?) but it fills up every day M-F because it used by employees of all the medical centers in that area.
I'm a first time viewer, and as a resident of central Phoenix for 40 years, I find your observations to be spot-on. The City really has made an effort to make this area more pedestrian-friendly, though the basic layout makes it extremely difficult. I can't tell you how absolutely deserted downtown Phoenix was less than 20 years ago. (The building of the stadiums and their garages were NOT helpful, as they merely brought hoards of people into the area when a game was being played; afterwards, they'd walk back to the garages and drive away. The restaurants that opened up in anticipation of a reliable stream of customers were forced to close within a very short time.) The turning point was when Arizona State University finally built a campus there. The changes happened slowly, but they've been accelerating the past 10 years or so. The stroads can't be made to disappear, but I'm glad to learn there's a movement afoot to get rid of the suicide lanes. I did not know that!
I was just going to say this! I used to work downtown at the Herberger Theater Center when it first opened and before the Convention Center expansion so I could see from the Herberger all the way across that concrete “park” expanse thing to Symphony Hall!
The streets deserted at 5pm and it was super scary then to have to come in to work a show at night as a female especially! We would have to park a block away and walk in.
After a few months of that the Catholic Church there across the side 3rd St to Herberger let us park there at night when we had to work a show.
It is absolutely crazy for me to see hundreds of people on the street downtown at night now!
I lived in Phoenix for a few years and we called those lanes suicide lanes for a reason. Most people avoid using them in an effort to avoid the consequences of suicide. I just avoided the whole street altogether. As you've pointed out you have lots of options for travel in a city with a grid layout and multiple highways.
Unfortunately, you can't avoid them when you need to get to a business right along them.
I live in Phoenix, I know the 7th and 7th daily traffic fiasco, and all of the observations here are on point. Just a definitions clarification: the middle bi-directional turn lane, which exists all over the city and in other cities in AZ, is what has always been referred to as the "suicide" lane. The added problem with suicide lane on 7th ave and 7th street is that every weekday at certain hours that center lane turns into an actual traffic lane, with all of the complications noted in the video. At that point it should be called the "certain death" lane.
We used to have those in central Tucson, but we got rid of them decades ago. They were awful
The suicide lanes work fine. The problem isn't with the lanes but the idiots that don't know how to properly use them
@@bluray4687 So... humans?
This is my current city. I do ride my bike in North Phoenix all year round, including in summer. It is just too expensive to have a vehicle. I ride a little over 7 miles each way. I wear sun protective clothing, with a looser wet layer over top and my helmet has a sun shade on it. I soak the loose top layer with ice cold water. I get on my bike sopping wet, but by the time I am opening my garage I am dry. Over the last three years here I have built up my tolerance to the heat.
Used to do the same. Would basically shower in my clothes before going to class. Bone dry (and wrinkle free) by the time I arrived.
Nice one!
that sounds even more annoying than riding in sub-freezing temperatures in NYC lol
@@koreyb you just need to consider water as a clothing layer, it's not just for drinking. If it's too hot, you add a layer of water to your clothes.
I have never heard of this technique, I should've been doing it in Vegas when I lived there
Born and raised Phoenician here. 4:30 Fun fact about the canals in Phoenix, they are actually the oldest "structures" in the city. Originally dug by the Hohokam, they are over 1000 years old and still in use.
We lived right behind the canal off Central Ave in Sunnyslope in '72. I remember they would drain it once a year and we would play in the mud, etc 😅
Phoenix resident here. Enjoyed the program. Yes, this town is engineered to be hostile to pedestrians, at least in the older parts of town.
It's engineered to expect that there never will be a pedestrian. That sidewalk next to the Phoenix country Club is there because of zoning. He may have seen one person crossing the street farther down the road but he may have been the first human being to set foot on that stretch of sidewalk since the last guy trimmed the bushes.
@@blairhoughton7918 perhaps a lost tourist
Sign at 0:04 is the most confusing jumble of information on a sign I have ever seen. Too many commands on a sign. Too many different time alternatives. Im not even sure what the X means? No turning or no driving in that lane or down that road? Nobody really has time to stop and read the sign when they are deciding if they are going to make a left hand turn in the middle of a stroad. Its not safe. Remove turning altogether.
I live here, it took me a while to understand it. The sign applies to the middle, broken yellow lined lane. This lane is typically used as a turning lane for both directions of traffic. From 6-9am, the yellow lane is designated solely for oncoming traffic to be used as both a driving lane AND a turning lane. From 4-6pm, the lane is to be used solely by the other direction for the same purpose. Other times, it’s used as it normally is. I think this is to give more lanes to the direction of traffic that experiences a higher volume during that time. Ex: morning rush has more commuters going one direction, so it gets more lanes during that time and the other direction experiences higher volume during evening rush.
Yeah, and in my experience nobody knows how to do this properly. I just avoid 7th Ave and 7th St during rush hours @@ryonrobbins
I recognized it immediately. In Phoenix we call it the suicide lane. Basically, the flow of traffic in the middle lane is different during different times of day. As you can tell by the name “suicide lane”, this causes issues.
I cannot believe that sign is right by a few high schools where several people are probably driving for the first time and it definitely isn’t part of the permit test.
@@minid0g I remember hearing that term as a kid! I didn’t realize this is the lane they were talking about!
so. much. tarmac.
that alone has to raise the temperature by 5C/10-12F...
add to that the heat generated by the constant output of AC and the friction of tires,
and the engines...it's just endless....insanity.
What's interesting is if you go look up the heat map for Phoenix (crap I forget who just started a site for those). The west side is several degrees hotter than the east side.
And wouldn't you know it? It looks a lot like the map of incomes on both sides...
I expect the difference is either the quality of the pavement itself, or the density and size of trees, or the ratio of rooftop to yard.
@@blairhoughton7918 LA is the same.
any US city actually.
the poor folk aren't allowed to have nice things
They're trying out something called 'Cool Pavement' where the pavement is a whitish-grey color that supposed to reflect heat instead of absorbing it. Its not everywhere, but hopefully they expand it.
@@atoth62 Double-edged sword. It reduces air temperature overall, but anything in the reflected light gets worse. Large benefit paid for by small horror show.
Big disparities across Phoenix too depending on the urban tree canopy/open space
You mentioned the light rail still being only one line, but that actually will be changing early next year. The light rail is expanding south on Central Ave past downtown to Baseline road (a 5 mile extension) and the line will be split into two line, a north-south line and an east-west line.
Yeah, I'm aware, and saw some of the ongoing construction. Hope to come back and ride it!
0:58 "If I'm not willing to suffer for my content how can I expect you to watch it"😂😂😂 Brilliant!
As someone born and raised in Phoenix, "mildly dystopian" is the most accurate description I've heard
It feels surreal that THE CityNerd was within 4000ft of my house. Thank you for doing a video on my city!
I've been closer
@@aloedg3191 👀👀
1.2km in the superior measurement system.
As a wheelchair user, I view robotaxis the same way I view stroad ADA ramps. Yeah, I've been told that they're meant to be wheelchair accessible with ramps and all. How is that in practice though? How many of the robotaxis actually have those fancy ramps that Waymo advertised one time? Because judging by the wait times the last time I was in Phoenix visiting family, it was about none of them.
The Waymo Jaguars don't have ramps, but they have a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle program that is available in the app.
idk how it works for nonresidents but I drive for Metro Valley ADA paratransit and I drive folks all over the city even way out to fringe-rural suburbs for a $0-4 fare, right alongside these robotaxis lol. Still a big work in progress but there's definitely options for wheelchair users and others unable to use cars or public transit for whatever reason. Before I started working here I didn't even know this service existed, but Phoenix seems to do a lot of transit projects "quietly".
My brother went to ASU for a year during the 80's. Being a poor college student, he owned no car, so he rode a bicycle around to get around. When it was hot, he said it was like riding with a blow dryer pointed at his face.
When the air is cooler than your skin (~90F), moving through it actually makes it cool you even more. The reverse is true when it's hotter than you. So riding a bike in 110 is like standing in 130.
Accuratee
Had to bike a couple miles most of the summer for football practice and can confirm that’s exactly what it feels like 😂
As a Phoenix resident, for almost 40yrs now, I can tell you - It still feels like a hot blow dryer blowing in your face.
About the "Streets" & "Avenues" situation....Maybe you didn't realize that everything west of Central is labeled in the "Avenues", while everything east of Central is labeled in the "Streets".... Many people that live here actually find this quite helpful!
Yes, Avenues and Boulevards in the West, and Streets, Places, and Ways in the East. I've met people needing directions to, say, 38th Ave when we were on 38th St,, and it sucks to have to tell them how far off they are. 😥
Another thing that makes it easy to find your way around is that, with a few exceptions like the sevens, the major streets on the West side are odd numbers and on the East side they're even. So if I tell someone I'm at 44th and Camelback, they know I mean the street = East side.
Thats one of the things i do love about the road layout here in Phoenix.
You can easily get an idea of where something is just based on the crossroads.
35th Ave and Lower Buckeye? - Industrial area in Phoenix right next to one of the jails iirc.
75th Ave and Northern? - Northern end of Glendale near Peoria. in the northwest side of the city
91st Ave and Van Buren? - Tolleson.
52nd Street and McDowell? - iirc there's an AZNG Place there and its right up against Papago Park.
The layout just seems to work once you realize the general layout of the grid. So much more than the few times i've been through other cities lol, but i will admit that, that is more than likely local bias there.
Are you thinking of the little hill on McDowell right before you get to Scottsdale? Whenever I'm in the area and heading West, I always try to take McDowell - especially around sunset. Such a beautiful view!
@@emmteemee Yep! that small mountain is really nice.
@@FevnorTheWolf It also makes it easy to get to places without looking up directions since its a grid based design
Thanks for the fair coverage of my city. The constant snarky commentary from people about it gets tiring because its always been my home and I love it for all its faults.
Funny seeing you retrace my steps in almost every shot lol. Lived downtown for a long time. Echo the same thoughts about the 7ths and I was in shock when i decided to walk next to that golf course to get to a med restaurant hah.
Same here. The bashing is a bandwagon thing and most of them don’t even live here.
a big thing i noticed while in arizona is the lack of consideration of speed limits. traffic oftentimes would going 10 or 15 over the speed limit in normal roads and 20+ over on the freeway.
yes, moving from az to the east coast, it was a big shift to not be constantly going over 80 on the freeways
Phoenix is actually quite dedicated to expanding their light rail, and it sees extensions semi-frequently. It's better in that regard than most other cities in the Sun Belt, at least.
Yup Valley Metro Rail is doing a great job
LOL yes they just extended light rail to a Wal-mart anchoring a shopping mall that closed 10 years ago. Yay Light Rail! The political will does not exist here yet to build the light rail where it is currently useful so they are building where it's cheap and not controversial, betting that if they build it the development will eventually follow.
@@monk3ysmuggler The area will be redeveloped
Look at Tempe for example the ASU area has been redeveloped
There is political will local politicians do support light rail
@@monk3ysmuggler The mall is going to be redeveloped.
Look at Downtown right now and 10 years also it's more dense.
Phoenix has political will they are funding future light rail projects.
@@danielportillo9266 Light rail never would have been built if it was left up to the politicians it was a voter initiative that I voted for. I'm not trying to be critical I am a huge fan and use it as much as possible but I have also seen the slow pace of expansion and been frustrated by the lack of focus that makes it very much a long term investment with little benefit to people like myself that are riding bikes and walking through these despicable carcentric streets. I'm sure the development will come eventually it would be cool if it connected to someplace where people currently live and go to. It's frustrating close and useless to me currently so I apologize if I seem bitter or critical.
A huge culture shock when I was living in the US was the realization that drivers won't stop for pedestrians and that they don't consider it rude. That tennis racket girl waiting to cross and not a single driver stopping for her!!!
Salt Lake City does a better job at this. We have mid block crossings and stuff too
As a Phoenician, if you did you’d get rear ended or at the very least make other drivers angry
@@ZackScrivenso does Phoenix
I just got back from a trip to Germany and France, and I was shocked that drivers in Germany let me cross. To them it was probably nothing, but to me I'm like these people are so nice.
It might be cultural or due to intense traffic but Paris was a lot like Phoenix. Drivers will not stop for you and you better be careful crossing.
Pedestrians do have the right of way in AZ but there's no actual crosswalk button so good luck getting 7 lanes of traffic to stop for you
There are some very large and very ancient cities that have climates similar to that of Phoenix: Cairo, Baghdad, Damascus, Basra, Karachi, Tripoli. Subtropical deserts have hosted large cities for a long time.
Vry well
Phoenix vs Minneapolis energy cost comparison would be amazing. I live in Minneapolis and work for a company in Phoenix. I basically refuse to move there. But this comparison would be entertaining, and maybe fun into to share with my coworkers when they gloat in the winter.
Phoenix is higher. Winter in minneapolis is 3-4 months and getting shorter every year. Summer in Phoenix is 6-7 months and gets longer every year. It is normal in Phoenix to have the ac running 24/7 for 6 months straight. Source: I live there.
My July bill for a 4 br house was $365. June was $220. This assumes you set the thermostat to 80 and use fans.
@@bigmac3011uffda
Lol I live in the Phoenix area and any time I visit Minneapolis, people say they are sorry to hear I live in Phoenix, but every one I know from the Midwest prefers Phoenix a lot more
@@kingofthemoon3063 you're forgetting people in Minneapolis use ac as well, except people outside of phoenix regularly set their ac to 69 or below in their poorly insulated homes where plenty of Arizonans have it set at 80 or above. (Also running your AC 24/7 is more energy efficient than turning it off and on again due to how much energy it takes to re-cool your home)
Thank you for coming to our city. I always love your content. I am not defending 7th ave / 7th st, but I can give some context. Phoenix is a surprisingly new city. Compared to the rest of the country, we got our freeways very late. The I-17 was built in the early '70s and the 51 in the early '90s. The I-10 (the one with the 'lid' park on top and the one that stretches coast to coast) was not completed until 1990. The sevens, as you call them, were invented well before the freeways were installed. At the time, Phoenix was much smaller, perhaps less than a million compared to our current almost 5 million people. At the time, most of downtown employment lived just north of downtown and the weird rules were a way to get people home. The people going home lived about six miles north of downtown, hardly far out. Unfortunately, you did not venture a little farther north on Central. The remains of the original bridal path that ran up central are still in use north of Bethany Home Road, they have wonderful shade trees. The sevens weird rules are easily 30 years past their usefulness, but maybe we keep them because, in a city that has so many dangerous natural things like the heat or the scorpions, having a dangerous roadway just seems on brand.
i moved to downtown phoenix in 2017 and the changes there between 2017 and 2022 when i left were insane. at one point there were like 13 cranes which was so unique for the area. i actually really loved living there and it's crazy seeing how much it continues to change every time i go back.
also i love your dry humor lol.
I live immediately off 7th Ave just south of the Melrose District. I'm so glad you focused on the issues with the 7s. But also . . . it was only 108. It wasn't that hot.
I used to live on 7th Avenue and I would see a car crash in the center (aka the 'suicide') lane AT LEAST once a week. Everyone that lives in the area knows to never drive in it. No one understands how it works so it's incredibly dangerous with illegal left turns or people literally just driving the wrong direction.
16th Street in DC had one of those when I was a kid. It was completely obvious how it worked. When the signs over the middle lane are a red X you stay out of it, and when they are a green arrow you can use it like a regular lane. It's not the design that's a problem. It's letting people with IQs lower than 50 have driver's licenses that's the problem.
@@blairhoughton7918 That only works if drivers are concentrating on driving. Which, according to my experience, is less than a quarter.
And I include myself in there. When I needed to car commute, I would do most of that on half-autopilot, certainly not ready for a deer or a child suddenly jumping on the street. It's just how we humans are, which is why ou need to build the roads to account for that.
Those yellow lane do not do that.
Traffic Engineers have blood on their hands
@@blairhoughton7918 The one in Phoenix doesn't have an electronic sign over it, which would fix the problem instantly
@@frafraplanner9277 it's got permanent signs that tell you exactly what the point is. But a little solar red/green light on each one wouldn't be a bad idea.
Higher speed E-Bikes are king in AZ. There are canals and 30mph side streets to get you most places but keeping up with traffic on the 30mph streets is a game changer.
Just arrived home from Arizona including one night in Phoenix. My 5yo had a great description of the misters, she called them water fans, and I'll never get that verbiage out of my brain. It's weird to walk around a city at 10 p.m. at night and it being 95 degrees, but there was more going on in downtown PHX than I thought there would be (I had always associated Phoenix with major sprawl, single-family homes, barbed wire and rocks).
As a Phoenix resident I agree the “suicide lanes” are stupid! They were adopted in the 70s before SR 51 was a thing as a way for commuters to go north and south from downtown.
Most people now don’t understand how they work and when I worked at a restaurant on 7th and Missouri I saw 3 collisions in 6 months of working there.
It's nuts -- I almost wanted to do a standalone video on the 7s and dig more into crash data etc
Never been to AR, but we have them all over the country. My Dad always called them ‘suicide lanes’. One time I almost got to experience why we called them that. Was turning into a Starbucks n another driver tried to illegally pass traffic in the other direction. She was pretty upset, maybe she should of been upset at her own intelligence.
Seen Op Eds advocating for removing the reverse lanes and introducing BRT.
@@CityNerd We all need to bombard the City of Phoenix Street Transportation with links to this video ! :)
As someone who is a transplant to Phoenix, listening to how you feel about the pedestrian situation here, I would love to hear your feelings on Pittsburgh in January lol From crumbling to just non existent sidewalks, more city steps than any other city in the country (1/10th of which actually get salted and shoveled in the depths of winter, also crumbling and in disrepair) streets so narrow you actually laugh out loud when you're pulling off to the side of the road to let opposing traffic pass as you realize it's actually a two way street. Driving in endless circles in hopes to find a place to park and still somehow managing to get a parking ticket. Hell, a bridge literally collapsed there the same day the president was in town for a speech on infrastructure. Coming from that, to somewhere like Phoenix is honestly a breath of fresh air. Also, "unable to bike most of the year"?? It's hot for 3 months and then literally perfect outside every day without fail for the other 9 months. Maybe I'm just overly enthusiastic because it rains/is cloudy on average 206 days a year where I come from. Just, go to Pittsburgh in January lol I honestly feel like you won't fully believe it until you see it for yourself.
As a valley resident currently suffering through another summer, I keep repeating the mantra that everyone else here repeats: “Our winters are nice. Our winters are nice. Our winters are nice.”
Also, as all my friends that have moved here from the colder climates say: 'You never need to shovel sunshine'.
Don't forget, "It's a dry heat." 😄 True, though.
The Kari Lake joke (10:37) resulted in one of the biggest laughs I've let out in a long time. Seriously you're one of the funniest RUclipsrs out there!
I like Kari.
Free campaigning for Arizona's next Senator! #VoteKariLake #MAGA2024 🇺🇲
Kari Lake when Unkari Crater walks in
Kari Lake is popular in my area :)
that Kari L snide at 10:37 is WILD
Phoenix was on my list of potential new homes when I was desperate to get out of Maine almost 20 years ago. For a lot of reasons, I'm glad I didn't go there. But it's nice to see it making strides in the right direction.
Where'd you end up
@@erike1235 DC suburbs. I'd like to be in DC proper, but it's WAY out of my price range. It's got problems, but I love this region.
OMG traffic hell!
@@kskssxoxskskss2189 I live car free. The fact that I can is one of the many things I love about the area. So, traffic isn't a big issue for me, other than the dangers presented by bad road design & unsafe drivers.
@@matthewconstantine5015 Aren't those major concerns?
108 in Phoenix? That must be a cold snap.
It just hadn't hit 113 YET
I remember that day. I wasted a bunch of eggs before realizing the sidewalk wasn't even turned on...
Love your efforts, the citizens of the US need to be informed. There has to be a better way than car-centric community planning
Hey there, first timer to the channel but of course I got a video about MY city in my RUclips recommended! Great stuff. A few things I would like to highlight as someone who lives outside of Central Phoenix but still in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, the lightrail absolutely rocks! As well as some of the free buses. Directly from my house there's a bus (completely free! and well air conditioned!) that comes every 30 minutes and can take me directly to the Mesa public library. Which, actually, has a lot of really beneficial resources for the community. A fairly short walk from there (if you take the shortcut through the ASU MIX center, which anyone can do if its open) is the lightrail station. The light rail traverses basically the entirety of the greater Phoenix area and its wonderful. There's also a lightrail station directly outside every ASU campus, the stadiums, and, as it happens, my highschool! So after school I can pay $2 to get to the library (which is super easy to do with the recently implemented smart fare system and the app) and then i can spend a bit studying there and take a free bus home! The only downside to the bus is it comes every 30 minutes, 20 or 15 minutes would be nicer but it's free so I'm really not that mad.
There's definitely a lot to be improved but as a highschooler without a bike or car, I can get almost anywhere for 2$ or less.
Dang, this rocked. Appreciate the nuanced discussion
7:36 The fare-checking probably keeps the light rail safe, clean, and comfortable enough to where it's more well used than the MAX
Been waiting for this one!! Phoenix born and raised, we want to make it better!
Yes we do 😁
It is nice to see a fairly balanced view of Phoenix. It gets a lot of hate by people who haven’t been here much and I have been watching it improve dramatically for the past 15 years. Still a long way to go but really nice that they are trying.
Thank you for visiting Phoenix, this great video, and the time many of us got to have with you at Royale! There's a lot of work to do and a lot of great work being done, and I appreciate you realistically covering the highlights. Phoenix has been a great city to live in for the last decade-plus -- and I am excited that we are making it more walkable, bikeable, and transit-oriented for future generations! I hope this video inspires more people to come and see what is happening in Phoenix ...maybe just not in the heat of the summer haha
It would be a lot more helpful if our state legislators weren’t actively trying to kill transit all the time. 😂
*Cries in Wisconsin*
@@Urban_Avenues Glendale should have approved light rail west extensions so people could get to experience alternate travel to west gate for sports and entertainment !
@@BrotherLoveher yeah!! They don't want Glendale downtown or Westgate to have more access... what legislators ever made any sense
Yup Republicans in Glendale and Scottsdale don't want light rail
Those trains are absolutely disgusting. Homeless people abuse them and they're only in scary areas. 😂 Don't connect the nice areas to the disgusting downtown and Tempe.
12:00 irony of the free parking ad on a bus shelter
Yeah. I saw that ad almost every day when I was riding my bike home from my local gym (it was at the Thunderbird/Rio Vista stop), and I wondered how many people would even see the ad, much less be convinced by it.
The robot cars are way better than the stupid Tesla tunnels,. There is a partnership with Valley Metro & the robot cars to create more seamless connections. It's not a bad experience at all. Soon you will be able to book the car in the Valley Metro app.
I used to commute by bike in Phoenix. It was a bit scary on some of the streets without a bike lane, but the weather was fine once you're moving. It's a dry heat.
Check out the Fry Bread House next time you're there. Man, I miss that place.
Thank you for going over Phoenix! My Father was the director for the redesign of roosevelt row, and we also live downtown! It was fun seeing my home, especially the blocks around my home detailed out. Thank you for such a fascinating video!
The "robot" taxis are like the Amazon Fresh stores, there's outsourced drivers intervening whenever the computer doesn't feel confident. Pre rollout tests suggested human intervention was needed every 5K. And Phoenix is just ideal for them. Giant, flat, dry, straight, low traffic roads with simple open, visible sides. Phoenix was chosen specifically because of how atypical it is.
im still using transit/uber over them every single time lmao. ive seen enough of their incidents online to trust it
And virtually no weather to speak of.
I spent my senior year of high school in Phoenix. Our school gave us public transit vouchers instead of having its own bus system, so I got to experience many of the same things. Waiting to transfer between bus lines in 110+ heat was an interesting experience. One time I had a box of tic-tacs in my backpack, and both the tic-tacs AND THE BOX melted! However, there was nothing better than getting home afterwards and having a nice cool glass of ice tea.
Also, those canal roads are actual examples of "bike through traffic." People also ride horses on them.
damn bro that sucks
Regarding the streets vs avenues: avenues are west of Central and streets are east of Central. For example, 56th street is about 56 blocks east of Central and 7th ave is about 7 blocks west of Central. It helps when trying to visualize the longitude of a cross street. For east/west streets, you just have to memorize them.
Loving that the building I work in off Central is featured in midtown! This is such a comprehensive breakdown of my city and I love... As much crap as you give this city, you still acknowledge we're headed in the right direction!
Born and Raised in Phoenix! It’s always funny what people think of Arizona, most don’t realize our weather is damn near perfect November-April , June-August is terrible but 8 months of pretty good warm weather is fine to me.
The downtown you show us is way, way improved over what I saw the last time I was there, some 12 or more years ago. Looking forward to the car-free neighborhood video coming up.
While I'm not a total adovate for self-driving cars, I do agree that the roads would be safter with "drivers" that actually pay attention. I can't tell you how many times I've seen eyelash curlers in use on the freeway.
I’ve also seen people drive on the toll road in Florida while eating and drinking, possibly even after drinking alcohol or taking drugs, talking on a handheld phone, looking back to talk with other people and one person being an accident because they were paying their bills over the phone.
@@enjoystraveling Why do you think tinted windows are so popular now?
@@roysorensen6131 Tinted windows are popular for me to keep the sunshine from being so strong, maybe other reasons ?
Traffic laws are a joke in Phoenix, more pedestrians are killed in Phoenix than any other US city. During rush hour half the drivers in the carpool lane are single. Red lights and, especially speed limits are mere suggestions.
I lived just south of the country club (on the wrong side of the wall) 20 years ago. It’s fascinating to see how much has changed and how much it all still feels the same.
I doubt I’ll ever move back there by choice but I am glad to see the light rail and ASU’s presence are finally pushing things in a positive direction.
I've always enjoyed going to the Phoenix area, especially in the late winter/early spring. I like to leave my midwestern weather consisting of slush-rain and escape to a place in the 80s.
Just moved to Phoenix this past week. Your video is a perfect encapsilation of all the the things I immeaditly noticed. The public transportation seems be trying to work but is just falling short of effective. I take the train to class downtown and the trains are consistently late and run ~20 minutes apart making timing my commute very difficult. I do have a car and have to use it to go get groceries, etc but the drivers are horrible and the roads are insane just like you said. Phoenix is definitely an odd place when trying to get around.
I successfully rode Portland's Trimet transit for everything I needed for years on an expired student pass without ever getting caught. Busses, Max, Streetcar, for school, work, and shopping. It's incredible that you got fare checked as much as you did.
The issue is homeless people riding all day. Surprised that is not an issue in Portland (or does Portland tolerate only fare-checking the people who look homeless?).
@@stevengordon3271Having lived in major metro areas most of my life, I figured the fare-checking was a way to prevent the unhouused from using transit. I cannot imagine how the unhoused can stand to live in a place like that. OTOH, how would one escape it?
@@charlienyc1 It is a problem. Not sure whether winter survival in the north or summer survival in the south is worse. There was a time when the hobos hopped the rails to migrate with the weather.
If I was personally homeless in Phoenix, I would attempt to keep a low profile in the public library during the day.
I have family in Phoenix. Whenever I visit it feels like it's sprawled out even further. I'm glad to see there are some density projects happening.
It has. Developers are by far the biggest political contributors, and they're not doing it to repaint a dry cleaners on 16th St.
I live in Phoenix in an area that was the outskirts of town back in 1955 when my house was built. Now, there are lots of houses being torn down and replaced with the kind of homes you see on HGTV. People get a nice house without the long commute, and no HOA!
Then there's Wickenburg Ranch, Santan Valley and Buckeye. 40 or more miles from Phoenix and continuing to sprawl like no tomorrow. There's a ballot measure coming up this fall to extend the half cent transit tax, locking in almost another hundred miles of freeways. Transit gets the shaft, none of the tax can be used to extend light rail. The area along light rail from Central and Camelback to Tempe is a real outlier in Phoenix, the remaining 99% of the Valley of the Sprawl is just that.
I lived in the Metro area for over 27 years (along with 4 years going to school in Flagstaff for 4), and went sans automobile for 10. I always referred to the bus system (before the light rail system was forced upon the General Electorate kicking and screaming) as Phoenix Arizona Rapid Transit, or PhART. (Make up your own joke.)
ahhhh Phoenix my home town. Even after living in London still has a place in my heart. And unpopular opinion I love the mid century modern architectural style combined with the desert.
We took Waymo for the first time to a nice restaurant in Scottsdale on our anniversary dinner because we were both going to drink... It was a great experience, and def looking forward to using it again.
I am tired of living in Phoenix. I have lived here for almost 40 years! When I retire, I am returning to my hometown where there are four seasons, grass, trees, rain and cooler summers. I, absolutely, avoid 7th Street and 7th Avenue during rush hour. I never got used to the middle lane. Phoenix has become much too big, much too populated and much too hot. I am ready for a change!
Been here 31 years in Phoenix metro (and I've lived in AZ all of my life). Similar feelings start hitting everyone around late July through September. And change is good.
But I'm just not sold on anywhere else there's a better OVERALL living situation in the continental US. Yes, Phoenix metro has venomous critters and blazing hot summers. But everywhere else has one or more of the following: hurricanes, tornadoes, super-sized hail, earthquakes, sinkholes, humid summers, ice storms + sleet, heavy snow + black ice, blizzards, or major floods. Pick your poison.
And our man-made problems - bad traffic and mid-20th century city planning - have man-made solutions: Better city planning (being applied now), pesticides for critters (and an optional 12 gauge shotgun for rattlers in the exurbs), and an efficient A/C for enduring the "Arizona Winter" (mid-June through early October) indoors. If the SW states solve their water rights issues and don't ruin the area with global warming, Phoenix metro has a long and bright future.
I do have to say, though, that I feel the streets & freeways here in Phoenix are faaaar better here than in LA, where I used to live!! 😉
Valley metro has a long way to go, I think we waste a lot of space for double lane roads with middle turning lanes, which would be so useful to get two or three more light rail routes.
Light rails should also have sprinklers and more shade.
It would take me 3.5 hrs to do a 35 mins drive to my family's home even though we have light rail stops not too far (3 miles) from each others home
The shaders as you see in your video don't cover any of the ground when needed, they should be taller than the light rail itself and extend past it so that people actually can wait for their stops while maintaining their health
That’s odd , since the entire train from metro center to Gilbert rd takes less than 2 hours.
@@bigmac3011 Correct but once inside Gilbert the systems aren't that good
@@ZalvadorZali bigger shaders at bus stops as well. Trees work well, but obviously take a long time to grow
excellent timing to see this video right as i’m planning my own trip to Phoenix! i’m glad to see at least one city in the southwest is making good urbanist improvements (unlike Vegas)
I highly recommend the Musical Instrument Museum.
I appreciate your determination to do your own investigation. The water issue in Phx is way more nuanced than the media makes it out to be.
I'm honestly surprised you were able to find one of the few billboards left that aren't accident or injury attorney advertisement billboards. It seems like every one i see here nowadays is one.
yeah, it would be nice to see some real estate ads. Car repair shop ads would be good as well. There are a number of ASU and GCU advertisements from time to time
My neighborhood has one for a dispensary. 😄
Or the ones for Jesus.
In addition to the Suns/Mercury & Diamondbacks, Phoenix Rising FC (the city's USL soccer team) is also quite accessible via public transit as their stadium by Sky Harbor Airport is only a couple blocks walk from the 38th & Washington light rail station. Contrast this with the Cardinals who play way out in Glendale which is a 2 hour bus ride or 40 minute drive (assuming there is not traffic) from downtown.
State Farm is absolutely ridiculous in the worst way, and there is nothing around it. So dumb.
More on Park Central, yes it is a repurposed shopping mall from the 50s. The revitalization started right before Covid in 2018. Last year a new gym opened up there and it’s become a lot livelier now with people around most hours of the day with a few shops and restaurants and bars one of my favorite areas of midtown along with Melrose
Please do that comparison of energy consumption in Phoenix during summer vs a comparable city from the East Coast during winter. I have always been curious about that. Thanks for visiting!
I just learned recently that half of the east valley, a significant portion of the Phoenix metro, doesn't even have bus service! Like, even as someone who drives everywhere, wtf is that?!
OMG truly one of my favorites of yours EVER! 🤣 I live at 7th Ave and Thomas in Midtown Phoenix and have for the past three years. Your comments about the area are truly spot on and I'm still laughing over your comment about disturbing signs you saw on Phoenix streets as your camera pans over a Kari Lake for Senate campaign ad HAHA!!! I'm so sorry I missed seeing at the Royal, that's right up the street from me and I will absolutely sign the petition to remove the reverse lanes on 7th Ave and 7th St. They are dangerous, no one understands how they are supposed to work - and I regularly hear cars slamming on the breaks and honking during AM and PM commutes along 7th Ave. THANK YOU for braving our city in the middle of summer and for helping to amplify efforts to continue responsible densification and livability here in Central Phoenix (and beyond!)
Grateful you survived the 7s 😅 perverse reverse lanes. Awesome 👌 overview of our light rail and downtown. Appreciate you pointing out the dangers of the reverse lanes. So many citizens, and even a few council members, have worked hard over the years to get them removed. By now, especially post-pandemic, their excuses for keeping them are exaggeratedly moot.
Don't forget that in Minneapolis we not only heat our homes in the winter but we also have AC in the summer! I try not to think about it too much.
You thnk its different in PHX? We cool our homes 6-7 mos a year, at ridiculous costs. Winter nights are cold, too. This aint Key West! Freezing temps occur many times a year. Heat here is a must, too.
Yes exactly, the desert has big extremes in temperature from day to night. And a lot of it comes down to how the houses are built
To be fair, the lows in february here (phx) can reach below 30*. I use to live in minnesota, so i know its still nothing, but coming out to my car in phoenix and my doors are frozen shut, is a bit baffling.
@@03focussvt943 I'm sorry but heat is not a must here, I sleep with my window open half of the time in the winter and I'd say there are more times where I want to cool my place rather than heat it. And there are really only 3 months of the year where cooling your house is an energy/financial issue.
@@mat6522So when it’s in 40 degrees degrees in January & February in the am you have your window open.. I bet
Recommend in Phoenix... Portland Street (historic houses with tall row of street palm trees), Culdesac development, Downtown Tempe, Downtown Phoenix, The Churchill container village and beer garden, MacAlpines 1920s Soda Fountain, Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa, Phoenix Central Library.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t understand why we have that middle reverse turn lane. It’s so dangerous and I will go out of my way just to avoid trying to make a left hand turn.
Would be interesting to see a video comparing the Phoenix reverse lanes to DC.
Great video, I still want to visit Phoenix. My new co-worker is an ASU grad and describes Phoenix the same way you did. Don't go out till after 8pm, find misters, and stay hydrated!
It was the same when I visited Indonesia. At night the streets became a party, and the food vendors fare was divine.
Different story from October to April, but then you have to put up with the population seemingly doubling.
Some of the BEST weather in the world from November to March though. Visit then!
Pls don’t move here
Phoenix's seems to have a lot of Googie architecture in it's newly developed areas. That's something I can wholeheartedly endorse.
It's not all fake hipster bait, either. That was the era when they started building things out of stuff that just would not decay in the dry heat. Also the era when a few companies decided that it would be a good place to move thousands and thousands of people all at once.
I LOVE that the reverse lane is so under utilized! Means it’s wide open for me to get home! I know.. that’s selfish but I do love it.
3:40 this bar is usually always packed on First Friday. if you wanna see our night life, visit before the first Friday of the month.