The

Undeniable

Ruth

®

…and the Ruth shall set you free!

  • I Wish I had a more Walkable City

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    Ruth Carter

     

    One of the things I love doing during The Undeniable Tour was taking walks. I often spent my first evening in a new city getting my bearings by walking around the neighborhood. In many cities (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle) I could easily find a grocery store, drug store, coffee shops, things to do, and plenty of people watching within a mile of my hostel. I loved it. I barely drove when I was in the cities because it was more convenient and more fun to walk. My friend to relocated to Seattle from Gilbert, AZ said they gave up their car because they could walk to most of the places they needed to go. For everything else, there’s public transportation, taxis, Uber, and rental cars.

    Phoenix Arizona Downtown Night Aerial Photo from Helicopter by Jerry Ferguson from Flickr (Creative Commons License)
    Phoenix Arizona Downtown Night Aerial Photo from Helicopter by Jerry Ferguson from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

    I didn’t have any plans last Friday night and I decided I wanted to get out and take a walk around 7 p.m. And then I thought about what’s in my neighborhood within walking distance and there really isn’t much, so I loaded up Rosie the basset hound and we drove a few miles to Tempe to walk along Mill Ave. She loved all the new smells and letting everyone love on her. (My apologies to the staff at The Handlebar. I let her walk into the bar when a group of patrons near the door was excited to see her.) I enjoyed getting out to relax in the warm night air.

    It’s ironic that Phoenix, a desert city, is so spread out. You would think that the hot weather would inspire builders and people to want to stay close to work and day-to-day conveniences. With a walkability score of 38 (out of 100), that is definitely not the case. (Phoenix’s bikeability score is 52.) The walk scores for my home and work zip codes aren’t that much better, at 49 and 54 respectively. I looked up Tempe since I lived near the Phoenix/Tempe border and they fared better with a walk score of 50 and a bike score of 75.

    I think there is hope for Phoenix. It appears that more people are moving closer to the city and there seems to be a higher demand for conveniences within walking distance and effective public transportation. I’m lucky than I’m not as dependent on my car as others since I lived right next to a bus stop and I’m close to two light rail stations, one of which that has a park and ride. I’m starting to consider what I would have to do to be able to bike to work, especially on the days when I don’t see clients and I’m just working in my office. I friends gave me some recommendations about the best way to transport my laptop with me.

    One of the things that’s missing from many neighborhoods is having grocery stores, drug stores, and similar conveniences close to home. Even downtown Phoenix and many places along the light rail lack these essential businesses. Our transit system is doing a great job at getting us to major venues and town, but they’re not necessarily getting us to where we need to go on an everyday basis.

    For now, I will have to drive most of the times that I need to go somewhere but I hope that will shift and Phoenix will become a place where transit lines and bike-friendly routes will become the most desirable locations for day-to-day conveniences.

  • SALK Day 32 – Brand X Custom T-shirts

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    Ruth Carter

    I absolutely love today’s sponsor, Brand X Custom T-shirts in Tempe, Arizona.  They create customized shirts, hoodies, hats, bags, onesies, underwear, and more.  If you can conceptualize it, they can make it a reality.  They even have an iphone app for creating shirts.  You can also get a quote online or just bee-bop into their store on to speak with one of their awesome staff members.  Even when the shop is busy, they carefully walk each client through the design process to make sure that each person gets exactly what they want.  They have locations on Mill Ave and at Arizona State University.

    Copyright Brand X Custom T-Shirts, used with permission

    Brand X has a massive selection of apparel to choose from, and they are all high quality pieces.  If they don’t have what you want on hand, they can order it for you.  If you’re putting words on your shirt, they have a huge variety of fonts, colors, and textures for your lettering.  You can bring in your own design, or use one of theirs.  This past Christmas, I ordered matching Rabies Awareness running shirts for my sister and brother-in-law so people will think that they did a Rabies Awareness Run.

    I love that Brand X is so connected to the local community.  Brand X has made the shirts for every Podcamp and Ignite Phoenix event that I’ve ever attended.  They also make the shirts of events for charity like Twestival and have events featuring local artists in their store.  At the last Podcamp AZ, Brand X was on-site at the event making Podcamp shirts as they were ordered with their mobile set up.  It was awesome.  My Brand X shirts are among of my favorite things to wear, and being a future professional geek, it’s very important to have good t-shirts.  Brand X also made my underwear for the 2010 No Pants Light Rail Ride.  I can’t wait until I’m earning a living wage again so I can create more pieces.  I have at least two ideas that I can’t wait to turn into wearable art.

    And it’s not just me who loves Brand X.  Everyone on Yelp has nothing but good things to say about Brand X, their high quality work, their fast service, and their wonderful staff.  One of my friends goes to the South by Southwest conference every year, the most awesomest film, music, and interactive media conference in the U.S.   He has Brand X make a shirt for every day of the event.

    If you need to make a personal statement or if you need a special gift for someone else, please consider Brand X.  You won’t be disappointed.

    Sponsor A Law Kid is my endeavor to pay for my last semester of law school. Today’s sponsor is Brand X Custom T-shirts.  For more information about Sponsor A Law Kid or to see what days are still available for sponsorship, visit my Sponsor A Law Kid page.