West Valley development remains a bold vision

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The Arizona Republic reported that before the harsh reality of the Great Recession soaked in, bold visions of a 40-story skyscraper rivaling downtown Phoenix's Chase Tower was envisioned in Glendale, and in the southwest Valley, Avondale set aside nearly 400 acres of farmland for a dense, walkable development with tall buildings, restaurants, hotels and high-end housing.

Ten years later, some of the suburbs still wait on such development. Others, like Avondale, must decide whether to rethink their aspirations.

Such urban-style development plans often arise from a suburb's desire to create a unique identity, said Grady Gammage Jr., a land-use attorney, a senior fellow at ASU's Morrison Institute for Public Policy and author of "The Future of the Suburban City: Lessons from Sustaining Phoenix."

He understands the motivation, but he cautions that there needs to be a demand for plans to succeed, and it typically starts with several developers who see the potential.

"If you start out with regulation absent somebody who wants to build something, it's tough," Gammage said. "You have to have an underlying demand and make it easy for urbanism to occur."

Avondale's vision has so far fallen short.

READ: Avondale and other Phoenix suburbs rethink boom-era hopes years after the recession