I've spent my entire college career living on campus. You can make fun of me all you want, but living here has some advantages. I get proximity to classes and high speed Internet. Aside from Reslife's alcohol policies, I only have one major problem with living here.
Mom and Dad, I need a car. Friday through Sunday, ASU's campus effectively shuts down. This leaves vehicularly challenged campus dwellers like this columnist to bum rides off our friends in order to feed and entertain ourselves.
Our only other option is to walk to Mill Avenue. I've done that many times. In fact, I often enjoy long strolls down Mill on cool, starry Arizona nights. I also enjoy long walks down the beach and baby, I'm a Capricorn.
Mill Avenue becomes a beautiful downtown area from University Drive to Tempe Town Lake. Unfortunately, I have to walk by Tempe Center to get there. Tempe Center, located on the southeast corner of Mill and University, used to be a conveniently located strip mall that contained a variety of stores. In the fall of 1999, ASU stopped renewing leases for many Tempe Center business.
Some stores were able to hang on until last year. Stabler's Market, a small grocery store, was one of the last to go. Some of my friends rushed to Stabler's to buy the last of its boxed wine during its going out of business sale last year. Others lamented the end of their "Jared" diets when the Tempe Center Subway went dark.
Today, Tempe Center is an eyesore that ASU uses for parking and office space. Luckily for us on-campus kids, ASU has a plan to make it better than ever.
At least that's what I thought when I heard Tom Reilly present ASU's modified plan for Tempe Center to the Tempe City Council Thursday night. The plan includes buildings true to the "brick and mortar" feel of Mill Avenue. It also proposed shaded walkways and an urban park that Reilly called, "a public space of appropriate size and scale for a very important corner of Tempe." Reilly even pointed out a spot in the plan for a potential grocery store.
I thought the plan looked rad. Urban parks and urban parking sounded like good ideas, and I was eager to see ASU do something with Tempe Center that I could benefit from.
Then Tempe resident Kirby Spitler addressed the council. He read a letter that Lattie F. Coor wrote in 2001 that said ASU wanted to include a grocery store, but not at the expense of its "primary goal." Spitler said that the idea of a full-size, full service grocery store was a false promise. All this talk about grocery stores reminded me that I was out of Count Chocula and Pop Tarts. I assembled a quick grocery list that also included SoBe, Snack Pack, Campbell's Chunky Soup, Hot Pockets, and pineapple fun shapes.
Then resident David Lucier addressed the council. He raised many questions about how we should think about Tempe Center, and he called for a "community-based planning process."
Councilman Hugh Hallman expressed skepticism about the grocery store, calling the mention of one in the plan a "ruse." He said that no grocer could afford the $24 per square feet that ASU plans to charge for rent. He also criticized ASU for imposing a property tax on Tempe Center that would generate $1 million in revenue over eight years.
Hallman said that the City of Tempe subsidizes grocery stores in neighborhoods that need them. He called for ASU to use the property tax revenue to do the same.
Before the meeting adjourned, I had added Slim Jims, tangelos, skim milk, and Maxim Magazine to my grocery list. I should mention that as a journalist, I'm only interested in Maxim for the articles.
I talked to Kirby Spitler after the meeting, and he clarified his argument for me. As a Tempe resident, he simply wanted a "walkable community." He told me that he had to buy a car just to get groceries. I looked down at my grocery list and I realized that I would have to walk back to the dorm and bum a ride if I ever hoped to get my Count Chocula and Slim Jims.
See Mom and Dad? I really need a car.
Then Spitler asked me how I felt about it. For a second, I was at a loss because I hadn't thought much about it. Looking back, I realized that Stabler's Market was an incredibly convenient way to feed my SoBe and cereal addictions. I imagined a downtown Tempe that met all my needs within walking distance, a downtown with a grocery store and an In-n-Out Burger.
ASU needs to compromise with the City Council in order to get the new Tempe Center off the ground sometime this decade. ASU should make special considerations for a grocery store not because Tempe residents demand it, but because it would make life a heck of a lot easier for students who don't have cars.
And because I still need Count Chocula.
Tim Agne is a journalism sophomore. Reach him at
Tim.Agne@asu.edu, especially if you can give him a ride to Safeway.
