How many empty "box box" stores are there in the Valley right now?
The EVT has the sobering statistics.
The paper says the East Valley has a vacany rate significantly higher than the rest of the area—almost 15 percent, versus just over 12 percent vacancy overall.
And about those “big box” stores:
The Valley has 305 empty big-box stores, defined as spaces with at least 10,000 square feet. That’s up from 299 at the end of March, according to CB Richard Ellis. Vacancies have been on the rise for 13 quarters in a row.
The shakeout will be permanent, according to the analysts the paper talked to:
Shoppers shouldn’t expect to see stores in those old buildings again, said Bill Jabjiniak, Mesa’s economic development director.
“I think that there’s a significant amount that has to be changed,” he said. “It’s not just the recession. We were seeing empty big boxes before that.”
Some places will have non-traditional uses like churches, charter schools or medical malls in existing buildings. Others will have to be razed for another use.
7:29 AM
Arizona to the poor: Screw You
From a story in yesterday’s Republic:
Arizona grocery prices inched up in the second quarter for the second straight quarter, following more than a year of declines.
The Arizona Farm Bureau Federation’s non-scientific Market Basket Survey found that Arizona consumers paid $2.88, or 6 percent, more for a hypothetical basket of groceries in the second quarter of this year than they did in the first.
The increase in Arizona was more than the $1.66, or 4 percent, increase seen nationwide.
What did the state legislature do, with a big assist from Jan Brewer and the voters themselves?
Increase the state sales tax by one percentage point.
… bringing the total hit for a working poor family to seven percent.
Since working people spend just about all their money—and these, days, in fact, are going into debt—that translates to seven percent less food for their kids….or seven percent more debt.
Update: Dylan Smith of the Tucson Sentinel writes in to say that Arizona doesn’t charge sales tax on food. I was confused at first—I specifically recalled discussions on food sales taxes.
Turns out I was remembering articles about the city of Phoenix, which recently instituted a two percent food sales tax. I was wrong about Arizona, and shouldn’t have used food as an example.
The large point stands, however: Since working folks spend most of their earnings, they will be buying their kids six percent less food—and, thanks to Brewer & Co., seven one percent less clothes, toys and entertainment.
10:14 AM
PHXations—Wednesday, June 14, 2010
The Arizona Capitol Times looks at yet another reason that Arizona continues to lag behind the rest of the nation in educational achievement:
A Cronkite News Service review of 94 superintendents’ contracts in districts with about 1,000 or more students found 40 in the first two years of their superintendency. At least nine districts will get new chiefs this summer.
“This is unusually high,” said Dan Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, or AASA. “With a turnover like that, a district doesn’t really have the opportunity to stabilize. When you look at high-performing school systems, what you always see is stability.”
In addition, the average salary of $120,700 in those districts was 22 percent lower than the national mean reported by AASA.
Read the whole story here.
This is one way to break up a fight:
A Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputy and his passenger were involved in an early-morning crash Wednesday in which the deputy’s vehicle narrowly missed a home.
The deputy was responding to a family fight when his patrol vehicle struck a tree and careened through a wall and into a residential yard near 115th Avenue and Union Hills in Surprise just after midnight, Wednesday, a sheriff’s office spokesman said. A witness said the car stopped about a foot away from the home.
Find the full story on KPHO’s website.
2:58 PM
The mysterious disappearing All-Star Game boycott of Arizona
Yesterday, you’ll remember, the Republic front page was all abuzz with talk at this year’s All-Star Game in Anaheim about boycotting next year’s game, which is currently scheduled for Chase Field in Phoenix.
Funny, today the paper fronts another big story about the All-Star Game coming to Phoenix…
… with nary a word about boycotts or SB 1070.
The same writer, too—Nick Piecoro.
This is what I hate about the Republic. How dishonest it is.
From the outside, it sure does seem like there were some high-level discussions at the paper about the splashiness of the possible boycott story Tuesday.
One might even speculate that some behind-the-scenes power brokers with some financial interest in the game’s being held here gave the paper hell.
And then, obviously, someone ordered up a “redo”—essentially the same story, scrubbed of anything that might offend the town’s sports swells.
It’s almost like rewriting history.
10:27 AM
This Friday: Desert Bloom 2
Gangplank’s second Desert Bloom night is this Friday. It’s an art and music party centered around some “live collaborative painting.”
There’ll be DJs and artists at the new Gangplank space in Chandler from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
From the group’s web site:
The mission of Desert Bloom is to be a conduit for latent creative energy; foster collaboration between musicians, artists, creators, and tech people; and encourage the cross-pollination of styles and ideas.
What is the point of Desert Bloom 2, exactly?
Desert Bloom Phoenix 2 is the tornado of creativity that lifts you up and drops you headfirst into the collaborative oasis of bodaciousness. DJs rock the joint while the audience joins a wild crew of artists to create huge murals – live!
Note that Gangplank just moved to new offices at 260 South Arizona Ave. in Chandler.
Desert Bloom’s web site is here.
Full press release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Chandler Tech Incubator Becomes Cultural Crucible
Chandler, AZ -July 1, 2010
For the past 2 years, a collaborative organization in Chandler known as Gangplank has been the hub of the Valley’s tech community. Now, the group is poised to upset the Valley’s music and art status quo with a series of events designed to bring about a radical melding of the local music, art, and tech scenes.
The group “aims to give a platform of expression to those who have talent but for whatever reason have had their creativity suppressed, and to create a real crucible for creative collaboration in the Valley,” says event volunteer Nicholas DiBiase. “We want to create profound connection between tech innovators, big thinkers, musicians and artists in a way that’s going to really build up cultural capital here in the Phoenix area.”
Organizer Brandon Franklin sees the event as part of “an upward spiral” for the Valley. “We are surrounded every day by talented people, but most of us don’t realize it.” say Franklin. “Desert Bloom is about tearing back the curtain that keeps these people hidden from each other’s sight, and letting them meet, talk, and cross-pollinate. When you take creative people, bring them together, and tell them to cut loose and go nuts, things happen that will blow your mind.”
The second event in the series, Beats and Brushes : Desert Bloom 2, happens July 16 and features 7 local DJs and 8 visual artists. Artists will create huge murals in real-time while the DJs spin short “battle” sets. The audience will be encouraged to participate with the artists in the live mural creation — paintbrushes will be distributed to each attendee. The performers are all donating their talents and admission is free.
Gangplank, located in Chandler, has been working since 2008 to foster and innovation and collaboration while incubating entrepreneurship in the greater Phoenix area. They can be found on the Web at http://GangplankHQ.com and on Twitter @Gangplank .
List of DJs:
William Reed : Punk, New Wave, Britpop
Consumer : Jungle / D&B
Molotrash : 60s Soul / R+B / 80s Danceteria
Halfacat : Drum n Bass, Dubstep
Matt X : Downbeat
RayRay : House and Breaks
[ forcedFuture ] : Electro, Industrial, Cyberpunk
list of artists :
Dumperfoo
Heather Kozan
Victor Moreno
Jamie Mulhern
Tony Deschiney
Shannon Elizabeth Harden
Gabe Velez
Nicholas DiBiase
Light show by Jay McGavren
Contact :
Brandon Franklin Desert Bloom / Gangplank volunteer committee chair 425-876-8284 brandon.franklin@gmail.com Twitter : @BrandonFranklin
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4:26 PM
Gay politicians—the Arizona angle
Just got done watching Outrage, documentarian Kirby Dick’s look at politicians—most of them, unsurprisingly, Republican and male—who promulgate hate and legal discrimination against gays even as they, well, fuck other men.
A couple of Arizonas appear in the film; one is Neil Giuliano, the openly gay Republican former mayor of Tempe, a voice of reason who serves as a talking head throughout.
More interesting is Outrage’s case study on Jim Kolbe, the former Arizona congressman who in 1996 outed himself just as the Advocate was about to do it for him, in the wake of his pro vote on an anti-gay bill.
Kolbe remained in Congress for almost a decade before retiring before the 2006 election. (His seat is now held by Gabrielle Giffords.)
In the film, he discusses how easy it became to tell his friends and colleagues about his sexuality—that something he dreaded turned out not to be such a big deal.
“Probably the most uplifting experience I ever had. I felt literally 40 years lifting of my shoulders,” Kolbe says at one point.
He goes out of his way to mention John McCain: “I remember John McCain, who when I started to say, ‘John, there’s something I really need to talk to you about …’, he just put up his hand and said, ‘Oh, never mind, Jim, I know. It doesn’t make any difference, you’re a good legislator, you’ve always been, and you’re always gonna be my friend.’”
Outrage doesn’t go into what Kolbe thinks about McCain’s virulently anti-gay voting record, or the hypocrisy of McCain’s feeling that it’s okay for gays to serve as GOP congressmen but not, say, in the military.
Here’s the film’s trailer:
11:16 PM