About a year ago I spent an hour or so on a Sunday walking around and looking at what was happening along Congress Street. There had been lot of yahooing in the print press about how busy downtown Tucson had become. Well, I sure didn’t see much of it. The restaurants were mostly empty and not many people were on the streets. So I didn’t write a blog post about it.
Now, a year later, I tried again. Well, the so-called downtown scene has improved slightly, but I now really question whether this area should be called downtown, despite what the sign on the front of the bus reads.
Maybe it was a vibrant downtown 60 or 70 or more years ago with department stores, banks, shoe stores, etc. Now Congress street and environs is primarily an entertainment and dining district. Then, going west, there is a government office district with offices and businesses in high rises that some people include in “downtown”.
Images from the roof
But I was determined to photograph something this time, so I went to the top of the Pennington garage and took some photos. And here is how Tucson looks from on high, starting with the photo at the top of this post. It’s looking north to the Santa Catalina Mountains. The cluster of tall buildings is NOT downtown Tucson; they are on the campus of the University of Arizona.
Looking west from the garage roof I noticed a series of new-ish murals in a parking lot , including one of Linda Ronstadt. The fruit mural has been around for some time. I assume the there are businesses in those buildings at the back. Or maybe, like Long Beach California, they are standing there empty until a developer decides to convert the offices to lofts and condos.
Looking east and down from the Pennington rooftop towards the Ronstadt Transportation hub and the red tile roofs of the train station. I like the geometry of this image. There is some discussion of building something in place of the Transportation hub. I’d vote against that. Cities need open spaces. (I didn’t take any photos looking south where there is the much more interesting Armory Park district.)
Random images along Congress Street
So I left the garage rooftop and walked along Congress Street. Wow! A high impact mural by Ignacio. When I peeked into the office, it appeared that there were desks for only 3 or 4 agents. Over half the space appeared vacant. But at least it wasn’t just another cafe or restaurant; there are so many now that I decided not to photograph any of them. The good news is that more of them had customers than a year ago.
In a nearby store window a tatto parlor showed its artisans’ skills on rubber hands. Surreal! And on the right – an assemblage of small ceramic tiles tucked back into an alley off Congress. They look almost child-made, but I’m not sure of that. Okay. That’s all. Maybe next year I will go to “downtown” Tucson again. But I’m more interested in the 19th and early 20th century homes around Armory Park, so they are up coming soon.
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