Downtown Phoenix Career Fair

I hope you guys had a good spring break!

This week I volunteered at the Career Fair in downtown for a few hours. It was interesting to see how different it was than the one held in Tempe. Downtown's was definitely much smaller, but also had employers that pertained to the downtown colleges instead of a general population of professions. I noticed that in the lobby there was a booth that would review your resume. I'm curious to find if students found that helpful. Did any of you go to the Career Fair? What did you think of it?

Internship routine

As my time at GGP progressed, I found myself having a set list of tasks to complete and my time there was beginning to have a routine. Upon arriving I would research events occurring around the valley that dealt with sustainability and environmental issues and would update the GGP calendar. I then work on the OffSET programs that need to be finished for that day, while listening to NPR. However, there were those days where I was able to attend meetings and events and learn about the different aspects of GGP's in the county, which was always insightful.

Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk

During my internship last semester, I had the opportunity to visit PURL, Phoenix Urban Research Lab, a few times. I also met some employees including Aaron Kimberlin, the Associate Director of PURL. Through this connection I was able to go to an event yesterday, that promoted the importance of walkability and how it can be accomplished in downtown Phoenix. Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk was a lecture/workshop explaining how certain traffic calming practices, alternative transportation facilitates, and sustainable community design enhance walkability within a city. Dan Burden, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Walkable and Livable Communities Institute, led the lecture and informed the audience of his successful practices.

The group was able to conduct a walkability audit by taking a walking tour of the downtown area. At each stop ideas were explained of what can be done to those areas in order to become more pedestrian friendly. The workshop consisted of small groups focused on a certain street section and adding elements that would make it easier to walk through. It's amazing what people can come up with when given the opportunity to be creative. 

This presentation is part of PURL's Transit Town Initiative, which aims to help Phoenix achieve its goal in providing more transportation choices. 

I hope everyone has a great Spring Break!

Downtown Park Development

This week I had the opportunity to attend a Hance Park Steering Committee Meeting, which is a project I had been following during my internship. Hance Park is a downtown Phoenix park in the process of getting revitalized. Currently, a master plan is being created for the park. The steering committee is creating a set of guidelines for what should be in the park (i.e. park amenities, parking, etc.). The meeting I attended focused on the development of a dog park, skate plaza, amphitheater, concession stands, and bike community center within the park. Most of the time was focused on the dog park. The issue wasn't having a dog park in Hance Park, but where it would be located. There were some neighborhood residents opposed to having the dog park next to their homes. The committee members listened to what they had to say and voted on the location, which was next to the resident homes. All of the other amenities were past as well.

It was interesting to hear both sides of the discussion, from the public and from committee members. As each topic was addressed, the public was able to share their input right away instead of waiting for their names on the speaker's list, which allowed for a more natural conversation. Granted this wasn't a city council meeting, it was more informal, but I thought it made each side's discussion be taken into deeper consideration when the argument and the rebuttal occurring one after the next. Overall, it was an effective meeting.

Go Green '11

My supervisor informed me about Go Green '11, which is a yearly conference held in different cities, and last year Phoenix hosted it at the Phoenix Convention Center. He informed me that if you volunteered for the event, you can attend for free. So I volunteered by passing out flyers around downtown Phoenix. The event had several lectures including, greenwashing and paying for sustainable development. It was definitely an experience.