Kush: Old Town store owners, residents opposing SouthBridge 2 is an agreed upon lie

It should be noted, the majority of this opposition does not even live or work in the old town area but instead in north Scottsdale where they sit and wax nostalgic about Old Scottsdale and fret about the destruction of Old Town’s so called charming character, without facing the reality that Scottsdale is no longer the West’s Most Western Town and that the young generation has no interest in visiting a bunch of dilapidated t-shirt, wig and trinket shops.”

Larry Kush, Scottsdale Planning Commissioner

Napoleon Bonaparte first coined the phrase “History is a set of lies agreed upon.” Bonaparte understood that people will generally twist the truth to support their own personal narrative.

Also, Hitler is credited with having invented the term “The Big Lie,” which says that no matter how big the lie, if you repeat it often and loud enough, eventually people will start to believe and even support that lie.

Currently, there is a group of anti-growth individuals who are circulating a petition to get a measure on the ballot asking voters to overturn the Scottsdale City Council’s recent vote to approve SouthBridge Two.

It should be noted, the majority of this opposition does not even live or work in the old town area but instead in north Scottsdale where they sit and wax nostalgic about Old Scottsdale and fret about the destruction of Old Town’s so called charming character, without facing the reality that Scottsdale is no longer the West’s Most Western Town and that the young generation has no interest in visiting a bunch of dilapidated t-shirt, wig and trinket shops.

The only way to save old town is for the area to be modernized and updated to appeal to current retail tastes and trends.

The Big Lie that this anti-growth group is spreading is that “Old Town residents and well established businesses are opposed to SouthBridge Two.”

This is the lie they are trying to get you to agree on. However, nothing could be further from the truth!

First of all, according to the owner of all of the SouthBridge real estate, over 50% of their tenants have only been tenants on average for four years or less, hardly an entrenched group!

Secondly and most importantly, as the attached map shows, of the over 61 neighboring property owners that were contacted regarding the planned project, 57 owners were in support of the plan while only five were opposed (it should be said that of the five not in support, two properties had the same owner and another opposition owner was the person that recently refused access over a parking lot for a group of artists painting a memoriam mural to
Senator John McCain).

Also, among the group in support are three large residential communities all located across the canal, these are the very people who most frequent this area and have no doubt grown tired of the decaying area, and look forward to the new hotel, residences, restaurants and exciting new retail that SouthBridge Two will bring to the area.

I urge everyone to not become a part of the Big Lie being spread by a small minority of anti-growth advocates about this landmark project.

Editor’s Note: Larry Kush is a member of the Scottsdale Planning Commission.