FRIDAY MORNING PHOENIX FROM THE FIFTEENTH FLOOR

Friday morning in Phoenix was one empty street after another.

I’m not complaining, but where was everybody?

No dodging traffic, no waiting to cross a street.

It felt abandoned, but maybe that’s normal during a pandemic?

The idea was to stay in the center of the city for the vibe. Since Phoenix is a major league city, I expected major league traffic. But no.

I was in the Renaissance, just a few blocks from the Diamondback game that night. A quiet game on a quiet Thursday night.

It was nothing like a New York street from the 60th floor. No police sirens, no ambulance sirens, no nothing.

I wanted to like it, but where was the Thursday night city life in an abandoned core?

Friday Morning In Phoenix Showed A Different Side

My goal in every city is visiting the oldest Catholic Church, the biggest Catholic Church, the most important Catholic Church.

The first Catholic Church in Phoenix, The Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, or St. Mary’s Basilica, was a few short blocks away from the Renaissance.

The walk-up on the block before included a series of statues of nude dancing bronze ladies.

Inside the church it was cool with a small crowd up front. A few couples sat in the rows.

A woman started speaking into a microphone. Her words sunk in after I stopped looking around. I had joined a small funeral.

Before things advanced any further I scooted out the door I came in. On the side yard I found bronzes of Mother Theresa, Pope Paul, and Saint Francis.

Those and the statues on the walk-up were the only human figures I saw outside.

But The Recount? Is That Where Everyone Is?

From twitter:

Several months after elected officials certified 2020 presidential election results declaring Joe Biden president, state Senators in Arizona used subpoena powers to take possession of and audit paper ballots and voting machines in Maricopa County, Arizona, according to The Associated Press. State Republicans hired a Florida-based company with no prior experience in election audits to conduct the review, according to AZ Central. Some officials, including Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, Georgia elections official Gabriel Sterling and a Maricopa Country judge expressed concerns over the legitimacy, transparency and security of the process.

Florida is helping with the recount? What could go wrong with that? Hanging chad, Part 2?

From the Associated Press:

“Maricopa County conducted a host of pre- and post-election reviews to check the accuracy of voting machines, including a hand count of a representative sample of ballots as required by state law. The county also hired two auditing firms that reported no malicious software or incorrect counting equipment and concluded that none of the computers or equipment were connected to the internet.”

But that’s not enough, not near enough to keep the fires burning in a hot state.

Does Arizona need more heat? From AZ Central:

“Representatives from all major political parties did a hand count of county ballots after the election. It looked at all votes cast for five races on 8,802 ballots — a statistically significant number of ballots, as state law requires. The audit showed that the county counted votes with 100% accuracy. The county would have expanded the audit if problems were found.”

Friday Morning Phoenix Recount

Not many flesh and blood people out and about, but nice statues.

Not many cars on the roads, but some public transit.

Walking across wide streets was nice, not like running for your life in other cities.

Either few people live downtown, work downtown, or drag around on a Friday Morning.

From Reddit:

Living in DT (Downtown) PHX is nowhere close to living in a city like NYC. You’re just not going to get that type of city experience here.

DT Phoenix is a work in progress. It can be overpriced for what you get, but it’s kind of neat watching the urban center grow before your eyes. I think it needs about a decade more of development before living here actually feels like living in a big city.

I’d suggest staying at one of the hotels for a couple days and experience it for yourself. You can pretty much get the whole vibe of the place in just a day or two.

Like the Renaissance?