This article originally appeared in the Arizona Republic.
For decades, residents of south Phoenix and Phoenix city leaders have envisioned the land just south of the Rio Salado as a gateway to south Phoenix, where Black and Hispanic residents make up most of the population.
A community plan approved by the Phoenix City Council in 2022 — funded by a federal grant and created over three years with the involvement of residents and business owners — imagined a transit stop with housing, retail, restaurants, medical services, a hotel and a movie theater just south of the Rio Salado along South Central Avenue.