That’s a debatable point, but Angela Cara Pancrazio of the Arizona Republic has a sweet feature in today’s paper on how cranes are remaking the skyline of Phoenix:
Phoenix is rising again. And the cranes have arrived, reaching into a city and stretching its torso upward. With the exception of the sports arenas and a couple of skyscrapers, there hasn’t been such a vertical climb all at once since the real estate market crashed in the late 1980s.
The ubiquity of construction cranes is altering perceptions of the skyline from downtown Phoenix to Sky Harbor International Airport to Tempe Town Lake and beyond.
The praying-mantislike machines are doing the heavy lifting on two 12-story towers at Hayden Ferry Lakeside in Tempe and on the new air traffic control tower at Sky Harbor.
In downtown Phoenix, they’re in constant motion, erecting a 31-story Sheraton hotel, the Biosciences Center and Phase 2 of the Phoenix Convention Center.
And Mack is at the helm of a tower crane at one of three residential high-rises.
Technorati Tags: arizona, arizona real estate, phoenix, phoenix real estate, real estate
Joseph says:
lol, Phoenix has the weakest skyline out of any major city. No building is even more than 500 ft! Building a couple 300 or 400 ft buildings won’t do much.
August 24, 2006 — 10:43 am
Greg Swann says:
Absolutely true. Compared to much smaller cities like Denver or Seattle, we don’t measure up(ward). The interesting parts of every city that looks like a city developed before cars or zoning, where Phoenix didn’t start growing in earnest until after World War II. But that which we are we are, a vast suburb surrounding no urb. If you love it, it’s great. If you don’t, you probably wonder how anyone could love it.
August 24, 2006 — 2:08 pm