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Phoenix urban designer and landscape architect Tiffany Halperin has been awarded second place in the This is Phoenix 2016 design competition hosted by the Arizona component of the American Institute of Architects. Halperin proposed that all alleys in the city of Phoenix be repurposed as pedestrian and bicycle corridors. The competition entry was a collaborative effort with environmental graphic design firm Thinking Caps Design, who branded the project, “Alley Over.”
Halperin had the idea for Alley Over after the city began to transition garbage pickup and other services for houses in her Phoenix neighborhood from alleys to the street front. The alleys were no longer being used for their original purpose, and in some neighborhoods they were abandoned altogether. The city is now even talking about closing the alleys completely to combat illegal dumping and transient activity. But where some people see a problem, Halperin sees possibility: alleys as pathways. Pedestrian routes are limited in Phoenix, and alleys are the perfect option for dedicated pedestrian and bicycle corridors.
“Don’t get rid of alleys; activate them,” she said. “If the alleys are closed or sold to a private property owner, the city will never get that alley back.”
Halperin points to other cities that have repurposed their alleys: Seattle, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. She thinks it could work in Phoenix, too.
“Alleys are important public spaces that can be valuable assets,” Halperin said. “They have the potential to be reinvented over time as we need them. We needed them for services, and now we need them for pedestrian corridors.”
Halperin and the competition team plan to meet with public officials in Phoenix and the greater metro area to promote the idea of alleys as valuable public spaces. In early November, a city subcommittee in Phoenix approved a one-year pilot program to allow alley activation within downtown. Halperin hopes that pilot program is just the beginning to wide acknowledgement that alleys are public assets, as she sees great potential for widespread alley revitalization in residential and commercial areas. Business owners in commercial areas will benefit from the additional foot traffic and entry points that alley walkways will create, and residential alleyways will connect neighbors, parks, coffee shops and other local amenities.
For more information about Alley Over, contact Halperin at 602-717-0702 or tiffany@urbanculturedesign.com.
Images courtesy of Tiffany Halperin.
