Great Post about John F. Long

An old friend of mine (from middle school, in fact) wrote a great post about a well known Phoenix-area developer who passed away recently. I thought it was not only share-worthy, but I also must react to it. But first, I can't help but to interject with a compliment for that friend, Mitch Glaser: It's funny..... now that I'm obsessed with regional development and the real estate business, I think back to Mitch's presentations to the class about Del Webb, Long, and others; or his gifts of sample community concepts for all the pretty girls (oo-la-la). This was as early as 6th grade!

But here's his post:

http://www.mitchglaser.com/journal/2008/03/john-f-long-rip.html

And my comment:

Great article about Mr. Long. Of course, he always profited from his land giveaways because he had a larger vision in mind, and those critical services played into it. Too bad the Phoenix market couldn't support that type of concept in the past.

But you know.... urban growth boundaries would help curb the hop-scotch developments that lead to forgotten communities at the core.

From what the latest AZ growth explosion has evidenced, it would also mean that city services can keep up and prevent rampant crime and slumification.

In Phoenix's case, it seems like the same old cycle:

Booming growth -> housing bust -> regional recession -> city/state/county budget crises -> decreased services -> slumification -> bottom of cycle -> economic growth period -> increased construction -> new communities -> forgotten old ones -> and the cycle starts all over.....

It goes without saying that Phoenix is far too dependent on the construction business (and related services), but seriously.... growth boundaries would be a great way to reign it in while those bigger problems are addressed.

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At the same time, I can't help but credit my favorite columnist from the AZ Repulsive, John Talton, for his wonderful entry about Long:

http://roguecolumnist.typepad.com/rogue_columnist/2008/02/john-f-long-a-b.html

This is seriously recommended reading, as is Talton's writing about the downtown Phoenix "experiment."