City data indicates that Tempe's population, currently counted at 160,000, is projected to increase to 190,000 by 2030. And Tempe is fully bordered by other cities.
Tempe planners have a general plan to tackle the population issue, among many others. There's nothing new about that, of course. The city has been releasing plans every 10 years for a long time.
But the difference this time around is that Tempe, like other municipalities in Arizona, will hold an election for General Plan 2030. A 2000 addition to Arizona's Growing Smarter legislation requires greater citizen participation in the planning process.
Tempe residents have been asked to pore over maps, charts and a thick binder (or CD) of descriptions for various long-term goals from April 1 until August 8. Next year, in May, they will be asked to vote on whether or not to keep the plan. And they'll have to live with their decision.
Planning makes perfect
Tempe senior planner Diana Kaminski has been appearing at public meetings to explain the General Plan to whoever cares to listen. A "landlocked" city with a growing population presents a problem.
"The big question is, where do you put all those people?" Kaminski said.
The solution is mixed-use development and infill, Kaminski said. Existing space will be reconfigured for higher-density use, combining housing with business.
Kaminski said she helped develop a pair of colorful map projections; one for how land will be used in the next 30 years, and the other to show what the density will be.
Tempe's planning team focused on vacant parcels of land, which were a rare find in the city, Kaminski said. The vacant space ranged from empty lots to parks with facilities to preserved areas. Parcels were sifted to separate plain open space from recreational places like Tempe Beach Park.
"Recreational space is defined by being more built-up than open space," Kaminski said.
Low-density areas were sought after and considered for different zoning or land-use categories to support higher densities. The densities were then plotted on a map for easy viewing.
"What you have to do is draw an acre and count every unit there," Kaminski said. "A developer would look at the vacant parcel and see the density. A map could support a possible zoning change."
The land use map uses colors and symbols to represent land uses and important places in Tempe. According to Kaminski, the maps are generated for every plan, but this time around Arizona State University (ASU) gets more descriptive symbolic representation.
A triangle, the Greek letter Delta, will represent ASU. The uses of the land will be distinguished so that Gammage Auditorium and Residence Life plots are distinguishable.
In the rest of Tempe, the red-colored commercial land uses will begin to be more and more dominated by land that may house people and business at the same time, for example.
"There's a lot more of the gray," Kaminski said, pointing to the mixed-use development on the map. "We've taken areas that were commercial and shown them as having potential for residential use."
Kaminski was careful to distinguish between zoning and land use. For example, ASU is zoned as a residential space, but its land use is described as "educational." To build businesses on the existing site, the whole land plot would have to be rezoned.
"So ASU would be selling the University as single family land unless they changed the zoning," Kaminski said. "[Karsten] golf course is zoned as agricultural and could do farming."
ASU is supposed to incorporate its own master plan with General Plan 2030, but the master plan isn't finished. For this reason, the General Plan will remain open for changes. Since the University is a part of a state agency, it is also outside the city's jurisdiction.
"If ASU decides it needs more classrooms or housing...the Board of Regents can develop land for their own use," Kaminski said.
A kontrived future
Lawn chairs sit in front of what was once someone's home on Seventh Street. Inside, curious people stop by to look at the colorful treasures inside: 30-year-old couches in various shades of avocado green, and orange blown-glass table centerpieces.
Such is the daily routine at kontrive, an independently-owned used furniture store located only a few yards away from the Brickyard on Mill. Owner Stan Coles said Tempe may be overlooking assets it already has.
"I don't think the city takes enough interest in the small businesses," Coles said. "People really like the little mom-and-pop stores."
The growth of the Brickyard and the modern-styled Orchidhouse at the Brickyard didn't bring Coles the kind of business she was expecting.
"It's hard to get customers," Coles said. "Rent prices make advertising difficult and the foot traffic isn't what I need it to be on this street. There's no real draw."
Located on a former residential street, the next house down is still home to a family. Recently, businesses have been buying and fixing up the old homes, Coles said.
"This house and the house next door were both college rentals," Coles said. "They were pretty old and beat-up buildings."
Gradually, the house where kontrive is currently located was zoned for commercial use by the landlord who owned the home prior to Coles' purchase. But Coles still faced land use issues to carry out her business.
"Zoning definitely affects me," Coles said. "I had to pay for a permit to put furniture on my lawn, but I know they're working on a [plan] so anyone can put [merchandise] on their lawn tastefully."
She said she had received word of General Plan 2030's public meetings and considered going to one of them, but wasn't sure if she had time. She also said she wasn't completely sure what the plan was about, but was somewhat interested.
"I wanted to go the one [meeting]," Coles said. "But if I didn't have the chance to go, I was going to check it out online."
Coles said she was concerned about the area losing its small businesses and their accompanying charm.
"I really wish they would keep this street sort of mom and pop focused, [with] non-corporate businesses," Coles said. "Eventually any residences that are still here won't be houses."
But if Mill Avenue didn't provide as much traffic as she had hoped, Coles said she is glad to be operating in an area with residential space like Orchidhouse. A couple of customers have come in from there to buy kitschy furniture for their new place.
"Having living spaces close by is helpful to me," Coles said.
The Next Mill Avenue?
Kaminski enlisted ASU geography professor Rob Edsall to create a series of interactive online maps to address the public's need to know - and understand - what the city is doing.
"Basically, what you're doing is presenting data that's difficult to understand and visualize to people who have web access," Edsall said.
Edsall started out his project as a class assignment for his GeoGraphics cartography course. He consulted Kaminski for advice on the maps students were making, and the project soon became an integral part of Tempe's communication strategy.
"She had all kinds of ideas and said it was what they needed," Edsall said.
The maps are designed to help people visualize the projections being made in the general plan by overlaying various land uses onto one "base map."
"People can identify things like the 'A' on A Mountain...real landmarks they can relate the data to versus a cartoon map," Edsall said.
The maps were to be posted on Tempe's home page, www.tempe.gov. However, the Macromedia Flash graphics are not compatible with disabled people's adaptive devices.
"Because it's not available on alternative media, Tempe can't put it on their web site," Edsall said.
Governmental web sites must provide material that can be accessed by everybody. Instead, the map page will be linked from the General Plan 2030 page. The page will likely be found on Edsall's own web site.
"What I'm hoping is that these maps will spark interest," Edsall said. "I think it is very important to know, for example, that Apache Boulevard is a major redevelopment area by 2030."
Tempe's plans for light rail could bring additional business and development that Edsall said may transform the currently "seedy" area into "the next Mill Avenue." Slums would be taken out, and lighting revamped to make the area more appealing. The maps would allow citizens to judge whether they wanted to live in an area with such a development strategy, or whether they wanted to invest in businesses in the area.
Pushing out small businesses is a potential pitfall of redevelopment, Edsall said. "Organic development" such as independent coffee houses and book stores could take a hit from a focus on upscale redevelopment, which tends to attract chain businesses. The Brickyard, for example, was designed as a "spec" to attract new tenants who were not already there.
"I think it's easier to market upscale development to big national chains who have overhead enough to cover temporary setbacks," Edsall said. "Most of the independent stores in downtown are in the crappy buildings."
Edsall said that creating a general plan and giving people the tools to understand it could allow average people to vote knowledgably about crucial urban planning issues.
"It's a subject that has a lot of impact on their lives in the future," Edsall said.
The eye of the beholder
ASU urban planning professor Ruth Yabes said the light rail system would spur an increase in pedestrian traffic getting on and off the trains. This would provide customers for new businesses, while at the same time bringing in riders.
"Light rail needs density to succeed," Yabes said. "They're going to hopefully stop by, coming back from work."
As a stop along light rail's future journey from southwest Phoenix through Mesa, Yabes said Apache Boulevard has the potential to bring "a whole range of development" that light rail tends to bring. Small convenience stores and medium-to-high density housing would grow together from the highly-coveted "guaranteed customer base," replacing old motels along the crime-ridden strip.
Meanwhile, housing in Tempe is increasing in cost as property values go up and as so little vacant land is available, Yabes said. Small houses cost as much as good-sized houses in other areas.
"I wouldn't be surprised if we continued to grow," Yabes said. "This is not good when students can't live nearby."
The fact that the city is upgrading shouldn't mean that Tempe has malicious intentions, Yabes said. Higher-end businesses on Mill Avenue have replaced smaller businesses like Changing Hands Bookstore, primarily due to the high rent. However, the city wants to build its own economy.
"Tempe is very aware of its student population and its needs," Yabes said. "The city is doing what all cities do."
Trying to make Tempe a "regional destination" for people outside the municipal boundary brings in additional revenue in the form of sales taxes, Yabes said.
"Tempe is brilliant in this strategy, but every city knows this strategy," Yabes said.
What do you think of the plan? Post your opinion in the forum below.
Nicole Saidi is the Content Editor of the Web Devil. Reach her at nicole.saidi@asu.edu.
