While I feel for the employees, I’m happy to see Salad And Go go away. Every single location was a drive-thru, negating any health benefits associated with the food. Will #Phoenix have the vision and will to rezone all the abandoned shacks so they can be demolished and replaced by something better?

Really good episode. I don’t always agree with either the host or the guest, but it was a thoughtful conversation. I especially appreciate Walker’s critique of free public transit. It sounds great in theory but is seldom associated with frequent, reliable, and safe service in major cities anywhere.

The War on Cars@thewaroncars.bsky.social · 2d ago

New episode up! We talk with transit planner Jarrett Walker, author of the recently reissued classic Human Transit, about why buses are so great, how we can make them better, & how advocates should fight for public transit in a hostile federal funding environment. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

I see this in #Phoenix where some bike/ped bridges over freeways have tortuous switchbacks leading to semi-concealed areas that are misused for camping and illegal drug use. I hope that if ADOT proceeds with changes to I-10 and SR51 near Downtown, it will use the opportunity to build better bridges.

Peter Norton@norton.bsky.social · yesterday

The experts on pedestrian bridges are the pedestrians. Katopola, Mashili, and Hasselberg: Pedestrian bridges in Dar es Salaam attract other uses that can deter pedestrians from using them. This deterrent exacerbates the better documented disadvantages, such as stair climbing and greater distances.

Unfortunately, I have little faith that this study will convince either the Street Transportation Department or the misguided milquetoast majority on the #Phoenix City Council to scrap the antiquated reverse lanes on the 7s. I would of course love to be proven wrong.

North Central News@northcentralnewsaz.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The city of Phoenix began a four-stage Midtown Core Transportation Study in May to look at how transportation should evolve in Midtown Phoenix as the area continues to develop. The study area boundaries run from 19th Avenue, east to 16th Street; McDowell Road north to Dunlap Avenue.

Planning a family movie outing resurrects the usual dilemma: Option 1: Harkins is a superior experience, but its locations are all suburban. Option 2: AMC has inferior theaters but locations in downtown #Phoenix and downtown #Tempe. The local favorite continues to ignore the heart of its hometown.

My concerns are the following: 1) Can ADOT do this within the existing freeway footprint without further intruding on #Phoenix neighborhoods? 2) Will the bike/ped bridges over I-10 at 10th and 18th streets be rebuilt with new ones as good as or better than what's there now? azdot.gov/projects/cen...

For years, I've heard Bogota cited as an example of how bus rapid transit (BRT) can be as good as trains at less cost. With Bogota finally building a metro, that doesn't mean BRT is worthless, but it works best as an interim measure while building support for rail. www.highspeed.blog/bogota-gets-...

Bogotá Gets Its Metro

As Colombia Votes, Chinese-Made Trains Are Being Tested in South America's Next Mega-City

highspeed.blog

It’s a pleasant surprise that a federal website is displaying accurate information under this post-truth administration, and this is a message that cannot be repeated often enough in #Phoenix

Urban Truth Collective@urbantruth.bsky.social · 2mo ago

We’re sometimes told trees can’t grow in hot, dry cities. Not true. In fact trees do the MOST good in hot, dry cities. “Trees in hot, dry areas can have a greater impact than in humid cities. Trees in areas like Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tucson are particularly effective at reducing heat.” #UrbanTruth

Today is the last day for Raffaele's Pizza, and Thai Lotus will close on June 13. The enshittification of 19th Avenue continues with the closure of popular longstanding #Phoenix restaurants to make way for a McDonald's drive-thru, a type of business that shouldn't be built along a rail transit line.

4.3 spaces per vehicle. 9 degree temperature increase. Remember those numbers next time anyone says that #Phoenix doesn’t have enough parking. Even if the surplus isn’t always where it’s needed, the solution is market based supply and pricing, not more mandates. usa.streetsblog.org/2026/05/26/h...

How Phoneix's 'Invisible' Parking Lots Are Making Its Heat Problems Worse — Streetsblog USA

How did parking lots swallow one of America's hottest cities — and make it even hotter?

usa.streetsblog.org

With Nikki Buchanan now retiring at #Phoenix Magazine, that leaves not a single professional dining critic writing genuine restaurant reviews anywhere in the metropolitan area. That's a big vacuum that social media influencers, consumer review sites, and amateur food bloggers like me cannot fill.

Adding anti-pedestrian drive-thrus along a light rail corridor is not an upgrade. It's been happening along 19th Avenue for a while, and now it's spreading to South Central. Pete's opposed light rail, so maybe it's good they're staying in the neighborhood, but this is not the way to do it. #phoenix

Phoenix New Times@phoenixnewtimes.com · 3mo ago

One of the city’s oldest and most beloved eateries will move into a new home — hopefully in time for its 80th anniversary. https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/food-drink/south-phoenix-petes-fish-chips-to-get-major-upgrade-40662883/

Disappointed to see guards telling people not to sit on these planters while waiting at @repgregstanton.bsky.social Central Station because they're private property. This seems outside the spirit, if not the letter, of the developer's agreement with @cityofphoenixaz.bsky.social and @valleymetro.org.

Raffaele's Pizza, Thai Lotus, and the only Liberian restaurant in #Phoenix to be demolished for an anti-pedestrian gas station and McDonald's drive-thru across the street from a light rail station. Pardon my language, but this is the enshittification of 19th Ave. mouthbysouthwest.com/2026/04/21/r...

A closed Hooter's is itself no great loss, but it is the latest sign of MetroCenter's decline, especially with "transient activity" cited as a reason. Light rail is not the problem. The entire I-17 corridor seems to be in distress, even miles away from the train. mouthbysouthwest.com/2026/04/06/h...

I wouldn’t call taco omakases elevated. That word connotes that the object in question is lowly and requires cleaning up for public consumption. The taco needs no such thing. If done right, an omakase experience expresses the taco’s limber nature. www.texasmonthly.com/food/taco-om...

Omakase Isn’t Just for Japanese Food. Ask These Taqueros.

Interactive, chef-driven, multicourse meals have boomed in recent years. They work just as well with tacos and Mexican food as they do with sushi.

texasmonthly.com

Enjoyed last night's event at the Royale with @thewaroncars.bsky.social hosts @brooklynspoke.bsky.social and @sgoodyear.bsky.social, State Senator @senanaliseortiz.bsky.social, and future Phoenix City Council member Ed Hermes. Excellent venue, energetic audience, and a balanced critique of our city.

I liked this place and am sad to see it close after only a few months due to opposition from residents of the condominiums upstairs. Barbecue in an urban setting is often problematic because while most like the smell, all it takes is a few who don't. #phoenix www.phoenixnewtimes.com/food-drink/n...

New downtown barbecue spot abruptly closes after just 3 months

The brand new barbecue joint has suddenly closed after issues arose with neighbors. Here's what to know.

phoenixnewtimes.com

Although I didn't like his negative tone, especially after he moved to Seattle, I almost always agreed with him on policy. I hope his fans in #Phoenix will continue to fight for a diversified economy, sane politics, urban vitality, and restoration of passenger rail. www.azcentral.com/story/news/a...

The #Phoenix City Council met until midnight yesterday, ultimately deciding to cease pursuing light rail to the AZ state capitol while accelerating plans for a route on Indian School Road. This route will serve Maryvale better than one along I-10, but the capitol should still have a spur of its own.

Having worked nearly four decades in both the public and private sectors in roughly equal proportions, I can attest to this. Neither has a monopoly on waste, incompetence, innovation, or excellence.

Jarrett Walker@humantransit.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Reject all claims that either government or the private sector is intrinsically more competent. Both can be run well or badly. Both have ways of rewarding either competence or incompetence. Focus on the people in charge, and their incentives.

New Years Eve rain is always appreciated in #Phoenix because it means we don't have the usual New Years Day hangover of dirty brown air from fireworks. Air quality at this moment is "moderate," a major improvement compared to the "unhealthy" or "hazardous" ratings often seen at sunrise on January 1.

I have never seen as much wrong way parking as at #Scottsdale Quarter. I don’t know whether it’s due to suburban shoppers with little urban parallel parking experience or an entitlement mentality associated with luxury vehicles. Either way, it seems contrary to the mall’s intended upscale image.

A drunk driver ran a red light and struck a light rail train in Midtown #Phoenix this morning, resulting in his own death and injuries to several passengers. @kjzz.org is reporting this accurately while @azcentral.com and other local media are running deceptive headlines about a "light rail crash."

Taking my daughter to her seasonal job at #Scottsdale Quarter makes me painfully aware of mismatches in planning. The Quarter has narrow streets, but 99% of people drive there. Downtown #Phoenix has better access via transit, but the city stubbornly insists on maintaining multi-lane arterials there.

There are few things as frustrating as a community meeting in which half the speakers are talking about a different project than the one on the agenda. Today's meeting on light rail to the AZ State Capitol was derailed by endless off-topic comments on a separate plan for Indian School Road. #phoenix

As with disparate impact arguments against safety cameras and traffic enforcement generally, making a disparate impact argument against DUI enforcement is absurd—what about the Native, Black and Hispanic pedestrians and bicyclists disproportionally killed by drunk drivers?

Allowing tiny cars to be sold in the U.S. sounds great at first, but it would be at the same time that vehicle safety and fuel economy standards are being relaxed. It will be hard to sell small cars if they are sharing roads with bloated SUVs and trucks. Few drivers will want to unilaterally disarm.

Enjoyed seeing someone busking while Christmas shopping in a suburban area not prone to busking. Standing on a pedestrian island in the middle of the road was clever, putting him on public property right at the boundary between #Phoenix and #Scottsdale, so neither mall nor city would chase him away.

It's such an example of American exceptionalism that even among the most leftist of Americans, they will refuse to use or acknowledge public transit unless it is the best it possibly could be, continuing to drive their cars instead. Like, if we don't have what the Netherlands have then it's garbage.