Hello I'm Rich Brown and this is my personal website and blog. I'm just your simple, average, down to earth, professional, out gay man and aspiring circuit boy, living in Phoenix, Arizona with a few things to say while trying to find my place among all the scary, conservative, religious nuts in this sick and twisted world.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Has Phoenix Lost It's Luster?
Yes we’re back on that subject again. It’s about that time of year and once again Justin and I are starting to feel that we’ve both reached the point where Phoenix has lost its luster. Could it be true, has this shiny gem in the desert started to fade? I know it seems like this question frequently comes to mind for many people here in the valley once the heat rises and it becomes nearly unbearable to step outside an air-conditioned space, but that’s not why I personally bring it up. Unlike most people the weather in Phoenix is not an issue to me. Frankly I think it’s one of the better qualities that the city just happens to have to offer. The problem here for me is not what the city has to offer, but what it does not. I know you’re tired of this discussion, but so am I. Just as it’s the same discussion I’ve written about in the past, it’s the same internal monologue I frequently find myself rambling. The only problem, I’ve been rambling quite a bit louder to myself lately, and I’ve learned that usually means it’s time to actually listen to myself.
I’ve been in an out of Phoenix for the past 14 years and the feeling here is somewhat of a paradox because while over those years it feels like so much has changed, it also feels like nothing has changed. Yes of course there have been changes, new houses, new roads, new businesses, and new people. The infrastructure seems to be always changing, and the once former conservative mood seems like it’s on the way out, but the problem is the general feeling of Phoenix as a ‘real’ metropolitan city has not changed, and frankly I’m not sure if it ever will. Something is missing here, something crucial to take Phoenix to the next level and make people truly believe that Phoenix really isn’t still just an overpopulated small town.
It seems as though whatever ‘thing’ is missing from Phoenix is also the ‘thing’ that we’ve all been waiting for in eager anticipation to change our lives here and either turn Phoenix into the amazing mega-metropolis it has the potential to become, or simply make it more bearable to live in this boring city. You see ever since I first moved to Phoenix there has been this feeling that something big is going to happen here. A feeling that’s always made you believe that this something big was just around the corner. I can’t even begin to say how many times over the years I’ve heard people make statements like “Phoenix is on the cusp” or “Phoenix is so close” or “Once Phoenix has [thing] it will take off ….” For the past 14 years it’s always felt like Phoenix is perhaps only one year away from becoming a real city or at least having the feel of a real city. The problem is that it just never happens. A year comes and goes, and it’s yet something else unanticipated everyone begins looking towards which is supposed to give Phoenix that big city feel. Unfortunately it’s not just one feature that’s going to all of sudden cause a rainbow to be cast over Phoenix, it’s inherently a long string of events that first have to happen before anyone is going to consider this city to be more than a layover stop in the southwest.
I think what makes this even harder to bear is that last summer with the start of the city’s light rail construction, the planned addition of many new high-rise condo’s, and the start of what appeared to be a downtown revitalization, many of us truly felt that the time for Phoenix was here and now. We finally could see the future and the hope that Phoenix was indeed transforming itself into what we’ve always wanted. That may have actually even been true up until the start of this year when the economy took a dive and so did our valley. The greater Phoenix Metropolitan area is now back in the same slump as it’s been in years past with defunct building projects, unfinished construction, and a growing number of home foreclosures as well as businesses, clubs, restaurants and shopping centers who are closing their doors permanently. Just as everyone saw Phoenix starting to rise from the ashes once again, it just as quickly fell back into the dust without any glimmer or promise of more to come in the near future.
Perhaps I’m wrong about Phoenix. Maybe with the opening of the light rail line later this year, the continued construction of the downtown multi-billion dollar Cityscape project, the opening of the downtown Medical school or continuance of the other projects which have not been abruptly discontinued will actually turn Phoenix around over the next few years. I am however not willing to wait that long anymore. I remember Jerry said to me last year something along the lines of “It would be a shame to have waited this long for Phoenix to boom, only to leave right before it actually happened.” Here we are a year later, nothing substantially different, and still nothing in direct sight. Once again I was fooled into the mystical thinking that just by giving Phoenix yet one more year something great was going to happen. I guess in the end I’m the fool to think that in the foreseeable future, Phoenix will ever really becoming something more than the sprawled, congested, giant suburbia that everyone has come to accept.
I hate to be so down on Phoenix because aside from a few redeeming qualities, it will always hold a special place in my heart for so many reasons. However, in the end, fond memories do not give me any solace that Phoenix continues to remain one of the most boring, culturally devoid, unsocial, and unentertaining cities of all the major cities in this country. Cheers.
So where are you thinking you'd like to go Rich? SF?
Nothing wrong with a change, I know that you know that. I say good for you, look forward and enjoy the possibilities! :-)
|______________________________________________________________________ posted by Jude @ Tuesday, June 17, 2008 11:28:00 PM
Yeah...you know I've wanted to leave for awhile. Maybe my constant "What the hell are we doing" comments when we're out of town have finally sunk in ;) Phoenix and Scottsdale seem like ok places to raise a family, but we will not have families and so we will need to be constantly entertained, ha.
|______________________________________________________________________ posted by Jerry Timms @ Wednesday, June 18, 2008 4:33:00 PM
Hmm... 2 thoughts.
1. Why are you posting pictures of my old apartment? You even got my building and window! :p
2. It would be great to have you back here. Just remember that San Francisco (or NY) require sacrifices. Smaller square footage, higher prices, renting versus owning, more gay drama. Take your time and think things through. Call me if I can help.
|______________________________________________________________________ posted by SilentBob @ Saturday, June 21, 2008 1:00:00 AM
