{"id":7128,"date":"2012-04-18T10:00:43","date_gmt":"2012-04-18T17:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingvancouver.ca\/?p=7128"},"modified":"2013-01-21T07:10:37","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T15:10:37","slug":"what-can-vancouver-learn-from-phoenix-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/04\/18\/what-can-vancouver-learn-from-phoenix-other\/","title":{"rendered":"What Can Vancouver Learn From Phoenix?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
Uptown Phoenix. Photo by Taz Loomans.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

[Editor’s Note: Spacing Vancouver reader’s are sure to recognize the name Yuri Artibise. As one of our regular contributors and an important urban voice in Vancouver, we are happy to re-publishing an interview called Life After Phoenix, a Retrospective: An Interview with Yuri Artibise<\/em> done by Taz Loomans originally posted on Firefly: Illuminating Real Estate website<\/a>. The discussion focuses on Yuri’s Yuri\u2019s thoughts about his time in Phoenix.]<\/strong><\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n
Taz Loomans:<\/strong>\u00a0What do you miss most about Phoenix?<\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/em>Yuri Artibise:<\/strong>\u00a0I miss the weather, especially this time of year, but even in the summer, there is a quality to the sun light that you just don\u2019t have in northern cities. I also miss the close-knit community of urbanists working together. While there is a great and very accomplished urban community in Vancouver, we are busy doing our own things and I haven\u2019t been able to connect with others as closely as I did in Phoenix. It seems the adage that\u00a0adversity brings people together is true, especially in an \u2018urban desert\u2019 like Phoenix.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Taz Loomans:<\/strong>\u00a0What did Phoenix have the Vancouver doesn\u2019t?<\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/em><\/div>\n
Yuri Artibise:<\/strong>\u00a0Beside climate (and great tamales!), Phoenix has an affordability that Vancouver simply doesn\u2019t; even before the economic downturn, Phoenix was an affordable place to follow your dream. This led to a more entrepreneurial culture that I miss. Vancouver has a lot of great things going on, but the high cost of living means that security comes first for a lot of people. Despite it\u2019s often inward looking perspective the region has great potential as an incubator for social entrepreneurship.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Taz Loomans:<\/strong>\u00a0What do you miss least about Phoenix?<\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/em><\/div>\n
Yuri Artibise:<\/strong>\u00a0The lack of urban form in the city, even downtown. \u00a0I still pinch myself when I walk outside and see almost everything I strove for during my time in Phoenix, realized in Vancouver, from walkable streets, to mixed used developments to bike lanes, even dog parks! If anything Vancouver may be a bit TOO livable \ud83d\ude09\u00a0as it\u2019s desirability have driven\u00a0prices sky-high<\/a>. \u00a0(As a result, real estate is the number one topic of most discussions, as it was in Phoenix, just for opposite reasons).<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Taz Loomans:<\/strong>\u00a0From the perspective of someone who lived here and now has left, what do you think Phoenix\u2019s biggest pitfalls are?<\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/em><\/div>\n
Yuri Artibise:<\/strong>\u00a0First and foremost the extreme political climate. It is the question I am asked about here. Second is sustainability. \u00a0I know many Phoenix residents don\u2019t want to hear it, but\u00a0Andrew Ross<\/a>\u00a0got a lot right in his book, Bird on Fire. \u00a0I mean there isn\u2019t even recycling pickup in apartments! \u00a0But seriously, while things like xeriscaping and shade are important, until the region drops the growth industry mantra and starts thinking seriously about things like residential water restrictions, limiting suburban expansion and significant investing in social infrastructure, especially K-12, the future of the Valley doesn\u2019t look great.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In this regard, the sustained economic downtown may be a blessing in disguise, as you will be forced to do more with less. Hopefully politicians will stop looking to external investment as a way to disguise the great harms that that region\u2019s (sub)urban form has done, not only to it\u2019s long term environmental sustainability, but also it\u2019s social and economic sustainability as well. I know that people there don\u2019t want to hear it, but there is a reason that these issues keep being raised by outside commentators like Ross and expats like\u00a0Jon Talton<\/a>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Taz Loomans:\u00a0<\/strong>From the perspective of someone who lived here and now has left, what do you think Phoenix\u2019s biggest opportunities are?<\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/em><\/div>\n
Yuri Artibise:<\/strong>\u00a0Phoenix\u2019s biggest opportunities are frankly the great expanses of vacant lots and empty storefronts. Combined with the entrepreneurial spirit and low-cost of living mentioned above, the city could become a great laboratory for sustainable desert living, in a manner like Detroit has become a beacon for rust belt revitalization. But to do so, the region needs to seriously consider ways to reconsider its relationship to its climate\u2014not simply push for solar panels and rain barrels. I\u2019m not sure that\u00a0Paolo Soleri<\/a>\u00a0had all the right answers, but his radical rethinking of desert living are closer to what the region needs. Frankly, I didn\u2019t see that thinking in the most of the current crop of so-called sustainable architects who pushed xeriscaping large lots and shade sails over private pools as sustainable solutions.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Taz Loomans:<\/strong>\u00a0Would you ever come back to live Phoenix, given the opportunity? Why or why not?<\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/em><\/div>\n
Yuri Artibise:<\/strong>\u00a0One thing that I have learned after returning to Vancouver is that this is \u2018home\u2019 and where my heart is. However,\u00a0Phoenix will always\u00a0be a special place for me, and I\u2019d love to opportunity to return, at least part-time. \u00a0I think that there is a lot both cities can learn from each other, and I\u2019d love to help help this process.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Taz Loomans:<\/strong>\u00a0What can we learn from Vancouver here in Phoenix?<\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/em><\/div>\n
Yuri Artibise:<\/strong>\u00a0There is a lot, obviously, given my earlier comments, but first and foremost, Phoenix can demand more from it\u2019s developers. \u00a0One of the things that has made Vancouver such a livable city is the high level of amenities that the City of Vancouver demands\u2014and receives\u2014from developers, especially when rezoning properties. This helps make sure that new developments are more complete communities, with access to daycare, transit, park space or cultural facilities.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Additionally, Vancouver has the greenest building standards in North America. \u00a0While Phoenix is applauding itself for adopting a voluntary green construction code,Vancouver requires all new buildings to be at least LEED Gold. Such requirements have been criticized by developers, and have been named a cause in driving our sky-high real estate prices, but I think they have been an important factor in making Vancouver such a livable and sustainable city.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Taz Loomans:<\/strong>\u00a0What can Vancouver learn from Phoenix?<\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/em><\/div>\n
Yuri Artibise:<\/strong>\u00a0One thing that it lacking in Vancouver is official neighbourhood input into planning decisions. While the city has an active and the speaking list at rezoning often tops 200 speakers, we have no equal to Phoenix\u2019s Village Planning Committees. \u00a0As a result, many neighbourhoods feel that their perspective is overlooked in planning decisions.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Another idea that Vancouver could borrow from Phoenix is the\u00a0percent-for-art\u00a0program\u00a0that funds public art throughout the city. \u00a0While Vancouver has a well-respected public art program, and public art is often included in the public amenity packages I mentioned earlier, it would be nice to have dedicated source of funding, and more integration of public art into civic utilities and infrastructure. While Vancouver has some great art in our parks and urban core, our highways overpasses are nowhere near as cool as Phoenix\u2019s :-).<\/div>\n
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\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Editor’s Note: Spacing Vancouver reader’s are sure to recognize the name Yuri Artibise. 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