In the area where I work, they recently formed a merchants association. One of their first projects was a plaza reconstruction involving an art installation. This involved months of disruption disguised as construction. I have spoken to the local residents, whose general opinion seems to be "why?" and "what a pain in the a**"
I love the part of the article where they say "For too long, 7th Avenue has been a street that Phoenix residents have used to simply get somewhere else" Apparently I have been using streets wrong all this time.
I often ride my bike to work, but have not been riding down 7th Avenue for a few months due to the construction. Today I decided to take a peek at the new plaza.
While the sidewalk used to be fairly straight-forward (literally) they have rerouted it through the little plaza. So now, rather than head straight down along the road, I had to swerve through the seating area - something that will be unpleasant for any visitors they might actually attract.
As I snaked my way around to the other side I found they have placed their 'art' right in the middle of the sidewalk. So, I then have to snake back again (no straight shot or way to avoid this without using the street on either side) but there is barely room for me. It would probably be fine for pedestrians (as long as they aren't too big), but for a bike or wheelchair it is treacherous. Poor planning.
Oh, and the art? Fairly generic and probably not long for the area - it's not a great neighborhood and the billboard-like installation seems just ripe for vandalizing. The installation itself looks like it is probably done by someone who tried to get the light rail commision, but didn't make it.
Our tax dollars at work.....