Phoenix Food Blog

Coffee Plantation was great from 1989 until 1993. It then declined after the original owners sold it. Coffee Plantion on Mill, the 2009 model, was a shadow of its former self and not really a place I'll miss. I'm more concerned with the overall state of CenterPoint, which seems to be sinking more every day with half-finished condo towers and empty retail space. The apparent closure of Regions after just a few months of operation makes the situation even worse.

The south end of the Mill Avenue District is suffering after years of mismanagement by developers and the City of Tempe, most notably the City's amazingly misguided decision to subsidize Tempe Marketplace a mere two miles away. Most shoppers and diners who favor chains also want free surface parking, and Tempe Marketplace provides that feature in nearly infinite quanties, albeit with a very poor layout.

The only hope for Mill therefore is not to try to out-suburb the suburbs, but instead to focus on the unique attributes of its urban identity. The blocks north of 6th Street continue to do reasonably well and are home to good indie places like In Season Deli, Pho Thang Long, Rula Bula, Restaurant Mexico, Caffe Boa, etc. Mill needs to treasure those types of establishments and not go out of its way to attract fickle chains that may leave for greener pastures in more suburban environments.

The other challenge for Mill is balancing its urban identity with the suburban expectations of many of its visitors. In an urban environment, it's unreasonable to expect free parking, but some visitors seem to demand it instead of paying a few dollars to park or arriving via light rail. Likewise, some visitors complain about panhandlers, even though most on Mill are not aggressive at all compared to those in other cities around the country. Ultimately, Downtown Tempe may need to write off some visitors with an excessively suburban outlook and focus instead on those who appreciate the spontaneity and pedestrian culture of an urban environment.

Doesn't anyone remember the good ol' days of the REAL "good indie places," like Willie Preps and Dollars. Or how about when Changing Hands was on Mill. Or how about the Q & Brew or even 6 East. But of course everyone wanted to cash in and knock down old brick buildings to build new brick buildings. When Coffee Plantation went in, it was really the beginning of the end. Ohhh well!! I hope it all goes down in flames!! (And, yes, of course I'm bitter.)

I just found out yesterday that CP is gone. In a way, I'm pretty happy it did, since it was a pale shadow of its former self. I loved that place in the late 80s and early 90s, but after it got sold it became another crappy coffee house.