This continual influx of people has fed a need for infill projects and redevelopment of the Downtown Phoenix core, because even though Arizona is largely raw desert, there is surprisingly less developable land than one might expect.

Now, however, residential projects are springing up all over downtown. People are moving to these urban areas for a number of reasons: long commute times, increasing gas prices, quality of life issues, poor pollution levels, efforts to conserve limited natural resources and the desire to be closer to entertainment and special events. There are a handful of noteworthy infill and redevelopment projects drawing current downtown residents even closer into the city core, as well as those living on the outskirts of town.

So who are these new urbanites and why are they coming?

“What we’re seeing now are three groups: students, owners and renters,” says Terry Madeksza, director of operations for the nonprofit Downtown Phoenix Partnership, a one-stop shop for residents and businesses. He adds that most residents are professionals who want to be close to arts and cultural venues.

Gretchen Henson lived in a single-family home in Phoenix’s historic Willo District until two years ago, when she moved two miles south into a renovation project called Orpheum Lofts located at First Avenue and Adams Street. Initially drawn to the building for its historic roots, Henson says the location “felt good” partly because of its charming red brick and exposed ductwork.

“I love being downtown and still having my practice in Ahwatukee,” says Henson, a dentist. “My commute is a breeze.”

Like many of these urban pioneers, Henson is single and has an active lifestyle. She jogs along city streets and enjoys the pulse of her neighborhood — the sound of trains, traffic and people on the street after baseball games at Chase Field or concerts at US Airways Center.

Students and retirees, and those nearing retirement, also are moving downtown.

“There is a lot of interest from the ASU community to live downtown,” Madeksza says, adding that families are a more uncommon demographic.

But Scott Dunn, communications manager at the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau, recently moved his family from downtown Chandler to the historic Coronado District in Downtown Phoenix, which is closer to where he works.

“(My family) decided we don’t want to commute anymore,” Dunn says. “The secondary reason is we like urban areas. If you’re going to live in a big city like Phoenix, you might as well live where things are going on.”

He says there are many things to do downtown already, “but there could be more.”

Downtown attractions will create retail and entertainment demand, Dunn says, which makes downtown a more appealing place to live. But there are other draws as well.

The new building for Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication will open this fall, and many students of this program will need housing. Two downtown residential towers make up ASU’s Taylor Place, which is under construction. The first tower will offer 750 beds and open this fall, and the second will offer an additional 550 beds and open by that time the following year.

But housing availability isn’t the only issue uniquely facing downtown dwellers.

“They want to know what’s going on,” Madeksza says. “Construction isn’t so bad if they know what it is.”

Which is why the Downtown Phoenix Partnership is creating new ways to reach residents. Representatives of the organization attend HOA meetings at various residential complexes downtown to educate the community on nearby development and solicit feedback. Sometimes they set up information booths in lobbies or common areas.

A sense of community is important to residenta as well, Madeksza says.

“They want to support local business, one another, and they want more residents to move down here,” he says.

The residents also want shopping, groceries, parks and community spaces.

Henson is “just waiting for more business to come in,” along with restaurants that accommodate later evening dining. The nearest grocery store to Henson is a Safeway at Seventh Avenue and Osborn Road, about 1 1/2 miles away.

Madeksza predicts area residents won’t have long to wait for a dynamic downtown.

“I think the people coming down here are believers,” he says. “They want to be part of an urban environment. They really are pioneers — they believe in what’s coming and what’s happening.”

www.coppersquare.com/partnership
www.orpheumlofts.com
www.urbanliving360.com
www.visitphoenix.org