RaidatePhx held its first meeting or 2009 last night at SideBar in downtown Phoenix. About 50 people showed up for the event that is a fusion of architects, designers, real estate professionals, and others whose passion is downtown Phoenix. This was pretty exciting for those of us who first founded the group... it wasn't too long ago when there were just a dozen or so of us spreading the word about how incredible downtown life could be.
The evening stated with conversation and people simply engaging with new and old friends. Claudia Bullmore, the founder of the group, took the stage and talked about a book she just read called Tribes and how RadiatePhx itself is becoming a tribe of people who care about the design future of Phoenix's urban core.
We went around the circle asking each attendee to briefly describe who they are and what they most appreciate about downtown Phoenix. This proved to be the foundation our speaker for the evening used to tie together her talk.
The speaker was Nan Ellin an associate Profession at ASU's School of Architecture and author of several books including Interal Urbanism. Dr. Ellin gave a thoughtful talk on why people are turning to Urban living rather than the fragmented life sprawl development has achieved. She gave many compelling reasons why integrative living is becoming popular today and how future planners need to ask the question, "What do you appreciate about the area you live" and create projects that complement and expand the positives.
Lots of people stayed after to chat and joke. I did a bit of magic for some and we had a great time. Its exciting to hear people's zeal for the downtown area with all its new attractions and thing to do. I really think the urban core of Phoenix has the legs to stand and grow into something very special.
Gene Urban
The Urban Team at Reatly Executives
602-234-5777
Here is a short video of the event...
