PHXations—Friday, August 20, 2010
The Hoover Dam bypass is almost done. The most noted part of the new route, which means that the trip from Phoenix to Las Vegas will not include the crawl over the two-lane Hoover Dam, is a gynormous, 900-foot-high bridge.
Reports the Republic:
The Federal Highway Administration has not picked an exact opening date for the $114 million span, officially named the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. At a sneak preview Thursday to showcase the completion of the bridge deck, officials announced an opening gala on Oct. 16. A federal spokeswoman said the bridge will open in early November.
Workers are finishing the last details on the bridge as well as the highway connections and access paths for walkers, gawkers and bicyclists. The work includes installing a pedestrian railing, building a parking lot for visitors, and adding lighting, striping and crash barriers to the approach roads.
The story says that the Arizona approach to Hoover Dam will be closed, so you’ll have to get to Nevada if you want to see the dam proper.
The dam’s official name is the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.
Tillman, of course, is the Arizona football star was was killed in friendly fire in Afghanistan. O'Callaghan is a former governor of Nevada.
Nick Martin is the Valley’s best blogger, Phoenix magazine says.
The mag’s Best of the Valley issue salutes Martin’s blog, Heat City, calling it “a true marvel of D-I-Y journalism”:
Competing against entire newsrooms at The Arizona Republic and other newspapers, Martin took first place in breaking news at the most recent Arizona Press Club Awards for getting the scoop on a series of arrests related to the 2004 bombing of the Scottsdale diversity office
IN other media awards, the Republic’s E.J. Montini is given best columnist and Buildproof.com, which helps folks remodel their kitchens, is deemed best local web site.
The Arizona Department of Commerce says that unemployment in the state held steady at its already high rate of 9.6 percent.
From the PBJ:
The Phoenix metro area’s unemployment rate moved from 8.7 percent in June to 8.8 percent in July
From July 2009 to July 2010 Arizona lost 6,800 jobs, or 0.3 percent of its total workforce.
6:40 AM
What's the worst hotel in Phoenix?
A story by the NYT’s business traveler columnist, Joe Sharkey, today, got me thinking. It was about TripAdvisor.com’s lists of the world’s dirtiest hotels.
The NYT story is here. The list of dirtiest U.S. hotels is here.
I checked to make sure Phoenix didn’t have an entry, which it doesn’t.
But it did get me curious. Poking around on the TripAdvisor site, I actually couldn’t find the worst of the worst in Phoenix. The lowest ranking I could pull up was a list that began with “157 out of 175 hotels in Phoenix,” but then went up in ranking [i.e., in quality] from there. (It could be the site requires a minimum number of reviews.)
The worst hotels in town—according to the site’s users—are:
The Ramada Limited Airport North (“I see that many of these reviews are a few years old. Let me advise – this hotel is still awful.”)
Extended StayAmerica Phoenix Deer Valley (“If you’re looking for a hotel with a warm, friendly atmosphere, do not stay here.”).
and …
Traveler’s Inn on Latham on the west side (“On walking into my ‘non-smoking’ room, I was nearly blown back by the stink of smoke.”)
It should be noted that the prices on these places are correspondingly low, and that the ratings are the product in one case of as few as a half-dozen reviews. (I took out one of the lowest ones because the reviews were several years old.)
There were few venues downtown. One I noticed, the Artisan Hotel, but it had been taken over by an established chain. Embarrassingly, the San Carlos comes in at no. 114. Some of the reviews aren’t nice:
“The furniture looked like early pioneer meets the ’70’s and the bathroom was more than hideous”
“This place should be condemned!”
“The shower’s water pressure was equivalent to holding a small bottle of water and gently pouring it onto your head”
6:22 PM