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The extreme summer heat poses real challenges to the design of public space in Phoenix, inhibiting the participation and interaction of even the surrounding local residents with the downtown neighborhoods (within 3 mile radius of the core). More so than the heat, lacking any geographical landmark, the downtown is lacking an identity and dynamic that most great downtown's have: New York has it's piers, waterfront and Central Park; San Francisco it's topography and diversity. How can we physically connect residents and neighborhoods while creating an identity that activates, engages and creates excitement and opportunity?

In 2006/07 the C.O.P. commissioned a team of planners and architects to guide the future of a rapidly transforming downtown core (see Downtown Phoenix Urban Form Project). One key component envisioned in this project was the concept of a "connected oasis"; a green pedestrian-intensive network of densely shaded streets and pocket parks that linked the major downtown destinations with surrounding neighborhoods and retail zones.

We need this "connected oasis" network to connect and engage our beautiful surrounding historic neighborhoods to each other and to our downtown: bike paths; pedestrian paths; newspaper stands; street vendors; food trucks; mixed-use / small retail; pocket parks; water features; all beneath the continuous shaded canopy of trees and dynamic shade structures; think Barcelona's "Las Ramblas", only more extensive and far reaching with a Sonoran desert flavor.

The light-rail system has offered opportunities along it's corridor and surrounding neighborhoods, as evident in the many new and/or renovated multifamily and retail developments completed since its introduction. Imagine the potential for urban maturation along this connected oasis.