Category Archives: Diversity and Cultural Inclusion
Downtown Voices issues statement on Phoenix’s anti-discrimination policy
Pictured here is Downtown Voices Coalition’s statement on the proposed amendment to the City of Phoenix’s anti-discrimination policy. The organization’s position on this matter is in keeping with one of its nine guiding principles – diversity – outlined here:
“Downtown should reflect a sensitivity to the diverse ethnic, socio-economic, and educational backgrounds, along with the variation in age groups and sexual preferences that are an important characteristic of our downtown neighborhoods. Success of downtown redevelopment will embrace this diversity and incorporate it as a dynamic community asset.”
How We Rebuild Neighborhoods After Foreclosures Explored by @ThePublicSquare
While the foreclosure crisis is starting to ease across Arizona and the country, neighborhoods still must reckon with the damage.
In what looks to be a great program, Zócalo Public Square and Arizona State University host an event on Monday, February 11, at the Heard Museum. The 6:30 pm event brings together a talented panel:
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis economist William R. Emmons
- Arizona State University geographer Deirdre Pfeiffer
- Mortgage Resolution Partners CEO Graham Williams
The moderator will be Fernanda Santos, Phoenix Bureau Chief for the New York Times.
More information is here.
ASU Lifelong Learning Institute Launches
Want a sample of what the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute will offer in the downtown Phoenix campus? Everyone is welcome on January 12, 2:00 to 4:00, to hear from three scholars.
More detail is here.
RSVP to this free event by January 9, 2013 to 602-543-6440.
Bill of Rights Monument Dedicated in Phoenix, Supported by DVC
9th Amendment monolith, one of 10 limestone carvings commemorating the Bill of Rights, located in Wesley Bolin Plaza, Phoenix, Ariz. (photo: Jim McPherson)
Here’s a great shot by Jim McPherson of one of the 10 monuments to the Bill of Rights, dedicated in December in the Wesley Bolin Plaza in Phoenix.
Downtown Voices Coalition is proud to have been an early supporter of this project, the first in the nation. Read more about this accomplishment (and see more photos) here.
NEW Lifelong Learning Program at @asudpc ASU Downtown Phoenix Campus
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at ASU is pleased to announce the opening of a new Downtown Phoenix campus program. The “A Taste of OLLI” grand launch will take place on Jan. 12 at the Cronkite Theatre in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism Building. The OLLI program provides short courses and lectures for participants ages 50 + at a nominal cost. Courses will be held at the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus with most courses running four sessions.
All spring courses or lectures are taught by ASU professors, or emeritus professors in the fields of history, science, public health and current events. This will be a wonderful opportunity for residents of the Phoenix inner city area to be a part of the ASU community with courses designed specifically for them.
Among the course titles for the spring are: “History Detectives,” “Children and Adolescents within U.S. Culture and the Legal System,” and titles of some of the lectures are “The First 100 Years of Quantum Physics,” and “Crime, Violence and Public Health.”
The Spring Schedule will be available online in mid-December and available in print form after Jan. 1, 2013. Call Shirley Talley at 602 496-1191 or go here for more information or to register for classes.
Central City South residents unveil “golden threads” to revitalize their neighborhood
Local residents of Central City South – young, old, and in-between – carefully thought through and developed a plan to revitalize their neighborhood. They unveiled their community engagement project, “Golden Threads,” this week. Here two young girls examine the map legend of desired buildings and amenities represented on the large-scale model before them.
Phoenix Revitalization Corp., with numerous civic and business partners, organized this project as part of the Central City South Quality of Life Plan.
Networks vital for revitalizing Phoenix downtown
Carol Poore, the President and CEO of the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS, wrote an op-ed in The Arizona Republic about how networks are important to downtown Phoenix’s success. Her op-ed is the summary of her recently completed Ph.D. dissertation and we at the DVC send our congratulations to her.
As temperatures rise and the Phoenix mayoral race heats up, understanding each candidate’s vision for continued revitalization of our downtown core is essential.
Why? In the words of urbanist Jane Jacobs, downtowns serve as the heart of any city, providing an ecosystem, a place to gather, a place of density and efficiency for both large and small venues that, altogether, create a region’s distinct sense of place, momentum and economic prosperity.
Research I’ve conducted suggests that a lively downtown requires social capital – vital networks needed to sustain collective action, identify opportunities and put in place solutions.
In past decades, two network-building organizations – Phoenix Community Alliance and Downtown Phoenix Partnership – fused people and ideas together, jumpstarting at least nine pivotal downtown projects that otherwise would not have been launched, including Arizona Center in 1988, Human Services Campus in 2005 and Downtown Phoenix Public Market in 2009.
Read more here. Congratulations, Dr. Poore!
ASU to Host Latino Urbanism Symposium in Downtown Phoenix: May 4-5
The Latino Urbanism Symposium
May 4, 2011 - May 5, 2011
Wednesday – Thursday
Cost: FREE
Open to the Public
The Latino Urbanism Symposium, to be held at The AE England Building on Wednesday and The Phoenix Urban Research Lab on Thursday (both on the ASU downtown Phoenix campus) will highlight Latino Urbanism and its role in American placemaking. We will spend two days celebrating and understanding how Latino Urbanism is reshaping the American urban landscape.
Latino Urbanism is an emerging approach to development that responds to Latino lifestyles, cultural preferences, and economic needs. Through an opening design charrette, evening keynote address and day-long series of presentations and panels, the symposium will expand upon a growing interest in the built environments of Latino communities, focusing on shaping and incorporating Latino needs in the development of present and future places in American cities. Topics include:
- Empirical assessments of the current conditions of Latino neighborhoods: health, walkability, safety and diversity issues
- Implications for the design of the public realm: connecting social and cultural spaces in Latino Urbanism
- Latino Urbanism vs. New Urbanism: Cultural implications of placemaking
- The relationship between sustainability and Latino Urbanism
- Latino Urbanism best practices and implementation strategies
Scholars have suggested that Latino Urbanism is an important alternative to conventional urban planning strategies in Southwestern cities, where Latino populations are expanding rapidly. Significantly, Latino Urbanism is often in keeping with the main principles of Smart Growth and New Urbanism: compact urban form, pedestrian activity, public transportation, and the importance of an active public realm. Latino New Urbanism has emerged as a movement that fights sprawl and seeks to preserve Latino settlement traditions and create healthier versions of the American Dream.
What can we learn from these traditions, and how relevant are they for urban design in the American Southwest? What are the needs and possibilities of new approaches to urban design in Latino communities? What are the most pressing problems to address, and what solutions can be offered?
Agenda
Wednesday Evening, May 4, 5:00 – 6:30
A.E. England Building
424 N. Central Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Keynote presentation by Henry Cisneros, Executive Chairman, CityView and former HUD Secretary
Introduction by Tom Espinoza, President and CEO, La Raza Development Fund
6:30 – 7:30: Opening reception
This event is free and open to the public
Thursday, May 5th, 8:00 am – 5:30 pm
Phoenix Urban Research Laboratory
234 N Central Ave, 8th Floor
To register contact aaron.rothman@asu.edu
Panel presentations and discussions:
- Patterns and Forms of Latino Cultural Landscapes (morning)
- Latino Urbanism vs. New Urbanism (morning)
- Latino Urbanism, Economic Development, and the Marketing of Ethnic Identity (afternoon)
- Designing Public and Private Space for Latino Communities (afternoon)
Speakers include: Stefanos Polyzoides, James Rojas, Roberto Moreno, Jesus Lara, and Kevin Kellogg
Carnegie Center Speaker Series Continues this Thursday, April 14
Being a Navajo Code Talker
Ronnie Towne will discuss her father Arthur Hubbard, Sr.’s experiences as a WWII Navajo code talker and the first Native American to be elected to the Arizona Legislature.
This presentation is coordinated to celebrate the ONEBOOKAZ for Kids 2011 title, Code Talker, by Joseph Bruchac.
Ms. Towne was raised in Glendale and on the Navajo reservation. She attended NAU to study Music Education with a Vocal emphasis and left to begin a professional career in entertainment. For over 8 years, Ms. Towne coordinated code talkers’ special appearances. She currently lives in Phoenix, where she works as an administrative assistant.
Thursday, April 14, 12 – 1 pm
Carnegie Center
1101 W. Washington, Phoenix
