Scottsdale landmark turning 70 / P. 20
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An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
This Week
CITY NEWS ...................12 Meet the Scottsdale City Council candidates.
NEIGHBORS ............... 24 Scottsdale couple helped save animals.
The hometown newspaper returns
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Should Downtown be more walkable? BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY Progress Managing Editor
M
ore than a half century ago when the city was incorporated, Scottsdale residents pitched a fit after officials heeded merchants’ pleas to slow downtown traffic by posting stop signs at either end of Scottsdale Road and in the middle of Old Town. “Stopsdale” became the critics' rallying cry until city forefathers thought better of the idea and switched to traffic signals instead. Now, the idea of creating more pedestrianfriendly, walkable spaces in downtown Scottsdale is bubbling up again among city staffers and elected officials at City Hall. In fact, it is at the forefront of their minds. Currently, attempting to walk down the thoroughfare on foot would likely land a pedestrian in the emergency room at nearby Honor Health Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center. But, what if the city turned the four-lane roadway into a pedestrian-only promenade,
(Pablo Robles/Progress Staff Photographer)
Scottsdale City Hall is considering ways to make downtown safer for pedestrians by limiting vehicle access.
free from the onslaught of traffic that currently plagues downtown during peak hours? “No doubt in my mind that if parts of Scottsdale were pedestrianized, it would become one of the hottest destinations in the Valley,” said David King, assistant professor at the
School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University. While the idea might sound radical on its face, it has some precedence nationally.
nexed new square mileage under his leadership. He wanted to show me around what many folks have long called “the West’s Most Western Town.” When I think about that history lesson 23 years later, what stands out to me is how proud Herb was of his city — its history and culture, its customer service for residents and business owners and its quality of life. Cancer took Herb a couple years later. Sometimes, when I’m in Old Town, I make it a point to stop by the sculpture of the Mayor outside the Civic Center.
There’s Herb in his Stetson, bolo tie and blue jeans, his dog Sadie at his feet. The inscription on the plaque nails the man dead solid perfect. “Serving the citizens of Scottsdale is the greatest job in the world.” They don’t make public servants like Herb Drinkwater anymore, and Scottsdale has changed enormously in the two decades since he passed, but I believe one thing has remained constant: The city continues to be what Herb liked to describe as
see DOWNTOWN page 8
Scottsdale has always been a dreamscape
FOOD & DRINK......... 57 The atmosphere just as luscious as the menu at new Cuban restaurant.
NEIGHBORS ........................24 BUSINESS .............................43 OPINION ..............................48 SPORTS & RECREATION .........50 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT....51 FOOD & DRINK..............................57 CLASSIFIEDS ........................61
BY DAVID LEIBOWITZ Progress Columnist
P
erhaps I’d been in the Valley a month when the phone rang at Scottsdale Progress headquarters. This was the spring of 1995. I was the new columnist for the Progress and the Tribune newspapers in the East Valley. The caller — “Mister Scottsdale,” Herb Drinkwater, the city’s longtime mayor — spoke as quickly as Scottsdale had an-
see LEIBOWITZ page 4